Worth the Battle
by Alex the fire girl
Summary: NH. Nathan needs a way to punish Lucas for intruding on what he believes is his territory in Tree Hill and he finds the perfect means to do this in Haley... until he gets to know her.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: As always, this is a work of fiction. I do not own any of the characters from the show One Tree Hill. Feedback is also much appreciated… I hope you guys enjoy!

The first time he'd laid eyes on her, it had been in passing. She was nothing special—just the girl who sat next to him in English, the girl who always had pens when he had left his in his locker or, as happened on some occasions, he just hadn't thought to shove one in his backpack in the morning. She seemed nice. Reliable. A little timid. A girl next door.

Not the kind of girl that Nathan Scott gave more than a moment's thought to.

But that had all been before he'd realized that she had connections—apparently deep connections—with Lucas Scott. When Nathan saw Haley James and Lucas walking to the movies one night, heads bent together in conversation, he had seen in her something that he had seen in no one else. She could be his key to giving Lucas a taste of his own medicine.

For weeks, Lucas had been slowly moving in between Nathan and his girlfriend, Peyton Sawyer. If that alone weren't enough, their common genetic ties caused a frigid, impassable gap between them; Nathan and Lucas were both the sons of Dan Scott, an ex-basketball god in the small town of Tree Hill but a royal asshole nonetheless. When they were in high school, Dan and Karen had been a young couple in love. Lucas was the product of their love.

A product that Dan had abandoned for college and basketball dreams, which lead him right to the future Debra Scott, Nathan's mother. There were born only three months apart, and Dan had never attempted to be a father to Lucas. Dan's older brother, Keith, was much more of a father to his nephew than Dan ever tried to be.

On the other hand, Dan was a father to Nathan. He claimed Nathan. He pressured Nathan and pushed him to be the basketball star that he himself could never move on to be. He drove him hard, to the point of being cold, brutal, and uncaring. Sometimes Nathan wondered if he, the son with a father, was really the lucky one. Basketball had once been his only true solace, and even that felt like it was being taken from him. So far, not even the harsh hazing that Nathan and the rest of the team had been pushing on Lucas was enough to get rid of him.

Nathan had been the sole star of Tree Hill High School's championship basketball team until Lucas had decided to join that year. The team had always been Nathan's territory—he owned the game, he owned the players, and he commanded respect from everyone, both his teammates and his opponents. Lucas, on the other hand, had previously only played at the local park, but the talent was undeniable. If there was one good thing Dan Scott had given to his children, it was his athletic ability.

Losing Peyton wasn't horribly traumatic for Nathan. They had been together for almost two years, sure, but he didn't love her. She was a good person, but they didn't connect. He was the brooding star player on the basketball team. She was a cheerleader who hated what she did and instead enjoyed sketching moody pictures in her notebook and listening to rock music. In theory, it was right that they were together. It was fitting in the social hierarchy of the school.

It simply didn't fit to their personalities. The whole relationship had been physical and, to a certain degree, a friendship. Nathan would be the first to admit that he hadn't always treated her the way that she deserved to be treated, but he couldn't help it. He had an ego. He had a short temper. He knew it.

On one level, the breakup had been something long in the making. Still, the fact that Lucas had to step in and play a part in the process annoyed Nathan to no end. True Scotts didn't lose—and he couldn't lose to his father's mistake.

That's where Haley came in. She obviously meant something to Lucas, which meant that Nathan could use her to hurt his older brother. Lucas had stolen Peyton, so he would take Haley from him. Lucas seemed to be a pretty emotional guy who formed real connections with people; that would make the pain even greater for him when he realized that his dear friend had an attachment to Nathan.

It might take some time, but Haley would fall for Nathan. All the girls did. His charm and good looks were impossible to resist. She would fall and he would trail her on just long enough to crush her when he was done. And Lucas would feel every ounce of her pain, Nathan was sure of it.

Now he just had to figure out how to get her, and then he would set his plan in action.


	2. Chapter 2

"Wow, Hales, you look attractive."

"Lucas, do you want me to go over all the times I've seen your ass look mangy and gross or are you going to shut up and give me my food?" As soon as Haley James's words were out of her mouth, her body shook with powerful coughs that seemed to rip her throat raw. The generally tough brunette looked fragile as she lay in her bed, her skin pale and shining with sweat from the nausea that had churned her stomach only minutes before. Blankets were piled over her and her nose was red and her eyes watery with the force of her cold, which had been raging a war with her body for days. 

This was the first day that the sickness seemed to be winning—she had been forced to stay home when her rightful place was in a desk at school.

"You get mean when you're sick," her best friend observed as he placed the bag of food from his mother's café on her desk and started digging through its contents. "Mom sent you some of her chicken soup… she said you should be able to keep this down. She also sent cough syrup and a variety of pills."

"Anything nighttime that might knock me out?"

"I'm sure there's something in here."

"I love you," she croaked out weakly, inching her way up the bed and into a sitting position. "I hate being sick."

Lucas chuckled despite her pitiful condition. He'd known Haley since he was a little kid and she had never been good at admitting to weaknesses. She would much rather be at school working than at home in bed ready to cough up a lung. "I know you do, Hales," he replied, pulling out a plastic container of soup. "How do you feel?"

"Probably worse than I look," she admitted reluctantly. There was really no use hiding it—she was miserable. All day long she had drifted in and out of consciousness, blowing her aching nose into the Kleenex that now littered her floor and drinking as much water as she could force down. Whoever said that lots of liquid made a cold go away had been a liar—empty water bottles lay all around her carpet and she was still a coughing, sore wreck. "Trade lives with me?"

Lucas grimaced as he brought her the soup and spoon, carefully handing them over. "I'm almost tempted… be careful not to spill that on yourself."

"Thanks… by your response I'm guessing today was a bad day?"

"Practice was hell," Lucas revealed succinctly, watching her to make sure that the soup didn't suddenly slip through her grasp.

Haley frowned, deep lines forming between her dark eyebrows. Even sick, she suddenly looked like a figure to be reckoned with, those dark eyes flashing angrily. "Nathan's still going at it?" she asked, her hoarse voice making her sound tough rather than ill. "I swear, Luke, I'm going to have to have a talk with that son of a—"

"You're sick. Stop getting worked up," he interrupted soothingly, but inside he was touched that she was so concerned about him. He felt the same way about her—she was his best friend and he would do anything to keep her safe and happy. But there were still some things that people had to deal with themselves and Nathan Scott was one of those things to Lucas. "Besides, what are you going to do right now? Cough on him? You probably can't even stand."

"You're mocking the sick."

"I'm being reasonable. I can handle Nathan, Haley. You worry about getting better."

"And then kicking his spoiled butt?" she asked hopefully, giving a little cough. They both knew that by the time she was better she would have cooled down about it and left him to take care of himself, but she still felt the need to offer him protection. If for a moment she believed that he wanted it, she would have fought for him.

Lucas chuckled at her spirit. "Of course. Here, I found the nighttime medicine. It should knock you out in no time."

She took the pills and the water bottle—she was getting so tired of drinking water—gratefully. Being awake was just so exhausting, but with the coughing and constantly running nose she never had time to fall into a peaceful sleep before she was disturbed. "Thanks. Does your mom need you back at the café?"

Karen's Café was the small restaurant that Lucas's mother owned and ran herself. Haley was a waitress there and she knew her illness was probably leaving Karen a little shorthanded. "I can stay a little bit longer," Lucas told his friend, reaching out to push a damp strand of hair out of her face. The small smile that touched her lips showed that he had said exactly what she had wanted to hear—his presence would calm her until she fell asleep.

Haley began to cough heavily and Luke immediately took the soup from her, handing her a Kleenex instead. When the fit had subsided, Haley collapsed against her pillows with a sigh. "Tell her I'm sorry that I'm not there. Maybe I'll be well enough to work tomorrow."

He gave her a skeptical look. "Get some sleep."

~*~

It was two days before Haley was well enough to return to school, and she never thought she'd be so glad to see Tree Hill High. Those few days locked up in her room while living in misery on a cough syrup high had been pure torture and anything seemed better than resigning herself to that fate for another second. When she'd been conscious, her mother had nearly driven her up the wall with her constant attention and advice on how to get better.

That morning Haley had met up with Lucas and a few of her friends before class, then gotten into her school routine. Life was back to normal, as it should be.

At least, she thought it was. Then fifth period rolled around and she found herself being inspected by an unlikely pair of eyes.

Nathan Scott's.

She had half a mind to tell him off right there in front of Mr. Turner. In her mind she formulated a whole speech that included but was not by any means limited to how much of a jerk he was, why he should feel ashamed for bugging Lucas the way he had been, that he better knock it off before she decided to chop him into small pieces with a machete, and where he could shove his basketball and his ego. A few times she even laughed softly to herself as she imagined what his face would look like. No doubt he'd be surprised that polite, quiet little Haley James had not only opened her mouth but told him off as well.

As the period wore on and she saw Nathan subtly taking glances at her, a nagging feeling in her mind told her that something wasn't right. Did she have something on her face? Why was he so interested in her all of a sudden? She probably still looked awful from her illness. Well, it was rude to stare. Maybe he would catch her cold. Maybe he would catch it and it would mutate into some horrible disease that would make his skin turn blue and his hair fall out.

Or maybe she had let her imagination wander too far and she should just pay attention to the teacher's lecture.

When the bell rang, she took her time putting her things into her backpack and lingered in the room for a minute, talking to the teacher about the assignments she'd missed while she was gone. Lucas had the class during second period and he had, of course, given her his notes, but she just wanted to make sure she hadn't missed anything important. Luckily, English was her best subject and Mr. Turner loved her writing, which gave him an overall better impression of her. She had nothing to worry about in the class.

As soon as she left the classroom, she found herself with a sidekick. "Haley."

She glanced up quickly and was shocked to find Nathan keeping pace with her. "Do you need something?" she asked, not slowing down or altering her course of motion. She was going to her locker. If the jerk wanted to follow her, it was his business. If not, he could walk off the face of the planet, for all she cared.

"I just… are you feeling better? You were gone for three days."

Had she walked into an alternate universe and just not noticed it? Surely there would have been warning signs posted on the road… "I didn't realize you were keeping track. Look, Nathan, can you get to the point? Because I really don't see the point in us walking along and pretending that we have even the smallest friendship because, let's face it, we don't and I don't really like small talk. So what do you want?"

Nathan was momentarily stunned into silence. His peers generally didn't talk to him that way. This girl was different—but then, he should have expected that. She was under Lucas's influence. "I need to ask you a favor," he said bluntly.

"Can't say that was a surprise," she replied blandly. For him to approach her at all, he must have needed something pretty important.

Okay, so this was going to be even harder than he'd anticipated. "I haven't being doing too well in English. I don't know what the hell possessed me to take AP Lit, but I did and now… Turner told me that _Crime and Punishment _is a pretty difficult book—"

"It is," she interrupted agreeably.

He raised an eyebrow at her. Was this girl for real? "You've already read it?"

Haley shrugged as she stopped in front of her locker and began twisting the combination on her lock. "I was stuck in bed for three days and even sleeping got boring. I needed to do something, and I don't like getting behind."

"Then I guess I know why he said you would be the best person to ask for help."

"Excuse me?" Haley turned her gaze from the messy insides of her locker to the tall boy beside her. "That's what this is about? You want me to help you with your schoolwork?"

"Well… yeah," he said. It wasn't a complete lie—he could use some help in that area. "It wouldn't be all the time. I was just hoping that maybe you could help me get through this book."

"Why me?" Haley asked suspiciously. "There are a lot of people working at the tutoring center… one of them would probably be better suited to help you."

"Turner said you'd be the best," Nathan pressed on. "Besides, you're in the class with me. You're doing the same work. You'd understand it better."

Haley let out a short breath and couldn't help the laugh that escaped her. What nerve he had to ask her, Lucas's best friend, to help him with anything. Chopping him into tiny pieces with a machete was sounding better and better. 

"You either don't know who my best friend is or you have an ego the size of Alaska that somehow disillusioned you into believing that one look at you would turn me into putty," she stated seriously. "Somehow, I'm guessing it's the second option." Rolling her eyes at his gall, she turned back to her locker, shoving her books into it roughly before slamming it shut.

Damn. Nathan had never thought that the girl would have a temper. She had always seemed so little and mousy to him. He'd obviously misjudged her. "You mean Lucas."

"No, the invisible clown man standing next to you," she snapped sarcastically. "Yes, Lucas." Normally she would have slapped herself for acting so forwardly with a person she didn't even know—she was a firm believer in giving everyone a chance to prove for themselves who they were inside—but Nathan Scott was a special case for her. She was almost as protective as Lucas when it came to her friends, and this punk had managed to plague her best friend in so many more ways than one.

"I've seen you guys talk a few times… I didn't realize you were that close."

"Well, we are. So good-bye." She gave him a short smile and started walking away, leaving him behind. "Arrogant pig," she muttered under her breath as she determinedly strode out of the building and towards the table where she and Lucas always ate. She couldn't believe him. Asking her for help. Out of all the people in the school…

Lucas would know immediately if something was wrong with her. Trying to calm herself down, Haley glanced at her surroundings. The air was crisp and cool, the sky a cloud-guarded shade of blue. She pulled her jacket more firmly around her out of habit, shoving her hands into the warmly-lined pockets.

There he was. Sitting at their small, round stone table and talking to none other than Peyton Sawyer. Haley let out a sigh as she approached them. She and Peyton had nothing against one another; in fact, they got along quite well. It was simply the fact that yet another piece of Nathan was interrupting her day that bothered Haley.

"Hey, there you are. I was beginning to get worried about you," Lucas greeted her with a smile. "You're pale. Is something wrong?"

Noting Haley's frown, Peyton nudged Lucas with her arm. "Leave her alone. She's been sick. It'll take her a bit to get back to normal," she pointed out. "How're you feeling, Haley?"

Haley sent a grateful smile to the curly-headed blonde. Maybe her reasoning wasn't dead-on, but she had just saved Haley from a questioning session that she would much rather sidestep. "I'm okay, thanks," she replied as she sat down at the table and plopped her bag down on the bench next to her. "I think I'll be glad when this day's over."

"Something happen?" Peyton asked curiously. Her relationship with Haley was a little hesitant in that they had only known each other for a few weeks, but she knew how strongly Lucas cared for her. That made Peyton want to keep her safe as well.

"No, nothing out of the ordinary," Haley lied convincingly as she pulled her lunch out of her backpack. "I just came back to the real world."

As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized how false they were. Because as soon as she'd said that, Nathan walked by and his eyes were firmly trained on her.


	3. Chapter 3

"Go Lucas! Yes!" Haley knew it was stupid of her to be screaming when her throat had already been through the bashing of a lifetime during her illness, but she couldn't help herself. It was Friday night and the Tree Hill Ravens were playing against the Panthers, one of their biggest rivals. Luke was having an amazing game; he was all over the courts, scoring and defending like a real professional. She didn't think she'd ever seen him play so well.

Of course, horrible circumstances sometimes drove people to do their best. Haley's eyes drifted subconsciously to Nathan and she frowned when she realized that he'd been looking at her, as well. Immediately her face twisted into a vicious scowl. Nathan had done it again.

For a moment, Haley had lost her mind and thought that maybe Nathan would leave Luke alone. No such luck. The night before, she's been worried out of her mind when Lucas didn't show up at her house to watch their weekly movie together. It wasn't until almost midnight that he got to her house, his clothes covered in mud. Nathan and his goons had taken it upon themselves to capture Luke while he was walking to Haley's house and drive him to the swamp area a few miles away, pushing him around, and then leave him in the mud, stranded.

If only there weren't cops and prison and her impending future weighing heavily on her mind, Haley would kill Nathan and leave _his _body in the swamps without looking back. 

She had been so furious when Lucas arrived at her house that he'd had to physically hold her down—effectively getting her pajamas muddy as well. Just another thing to add to her list of grievances against Nathan Scott.

In her mind, things were beginning to look bleak for her resistance. Haley could glare and threaten all she wanted, but she wasn't a malicious person, unlike some of her peers. She wouldn't be able to hurt Nathan, no matter how much she wanted to, because her conscience would drive her mad if she did. The only thing she could do was reason with him. A favor for a favor.

She just really didn't like the idea of him pressuring her into something. It was like giving in, being weak, and she hated being weak. Still, Lucas was more important to her than her pride. It was clear that she was going to have to bite her tongue and do ask Nathan had asked. She would help him get past _Crime and Punishment _ if he left her friend alone.

God, she hoped Lucas knew how much she loved him.

The last few minutes of the game were nerve-wracking and Haley was up on her feet, screaming and cheering for Lucas like only a best friend could. At the last moment, when it looked like the Panthers' lead player, Mark Pillar, might score a basket and tie the game, Lucas stole the ball and the clock buzzed, signaling the end of the game. They had won, barely.

The crowd was deafening in their approval as the team was ushered off into the locker room. Haley couldn't help the grin on her face as she shuffled out of the gym with the rest of them. She stopped to chat with Peyton for a moment, and the two walked together towards the doors that the players would be leaving through in about twenty minutes.

"Luke played really well tonight. I was a little worried about how the team would treat him out there," Haley admitted as they waited.

Peyton, who had spent a lot more time around the basketball players of Tree Hill, sighed. "I know. But in the end, most of them just want to win. It's Nathan that… Nathan wants to be the star. He _has _to be the star or he doesn't feel like he's done well enough."

"Is his father really that hard on him?" Haley asked doubtfully. She had heard numerous stories about how tyrannical Dan Scott was, but it seemed hard to believe that a person could be that demanding of their son. After all, he was human. No one could be perfect all the time.

Thinking about Dan made Peyton grimace. In her years as Nathan's girlfriend, she'd seen a lot of his interactions with his father and very few of them were pretty. It was questionable to her whether or not Dan even knew how to love. "Yeah, he is," she finally stated. "I mean, I know Nathan's a jerk, and some of that probably is just who he is, but his dad has a lot to do with it. He's always making him do more than everyone else. Telling him he's not good enough. Comparing Nathan to the best of his own glory days. He takes a lot of shit from his father."

For a minute Haley was silent. She liked to believe that people decided who they were going to be, not their parents, but she could never imagine living in a world where that kind of pressure was placed upon her shoulders. Maybe there was a real, legitimate reason as to why Nathan acted the way he did. Maybe she should give him a little chance. If he blew it, that was on him. "I've never doubted that Dan was a royal ass, but I didn't know it to that degree."

Peyton gave a resentful laugh. "Yeah. He abandons one son and then turns around and drives the other to the brink of his sanity. He's a real class act."

"What I don't get is his ego."

"Dan's?"

Haley shook her head. "No, Nathan's. I mean, if his home life is that crappy then how does he—"

"School," Peyton cut in. "Dan may cut him down at home, but that helps him play better, makes him stronger in a way. That shows on the court, and his friends revere him for it. It's a twisted give and take." She paused, glancing over at the taller girl curiously. Why was she so interested in the inner workings of Nathan's mind all of a sudden, anyway? "Why are you asking me about Nathan?"

"Peyton, if I tell you something can you promise me that you won't tell Lucas?" Haley asked seriously. She didn't have many girl friends, none that she trusted as much as Peyton who knew both brothers well. Maybe she could offer some advice.

"This must be serious… of course I'll keep it a secret if it's really that important to you."

"Okay. Well, the other day Nathan asked me to do something for him. He said he wanted my help in English, but I blew him off because I know Luke would hate Nathan even being around me. But then last night happened and I… I think I might do it. You know, go to Nathan and tell him that I'll help him."

"If he stops picking on Luke," Peyton filled in knowingly.

"Right. Do you think I'm crazy?"

Peyton smiled. "Just a little. I think it's a really sweet thing you're going to do, Haley, but Lucas wouldn't appreciate the sacrifice."

"Which is why you can't tell him," the brunette pointed out. "If I can keep Luke in the dark and help Nathan then maybe everyone will be happier."

The cheerleader raised an eyebrow. Sometimes Haley surprised her—she tried with all her might to seem tough, and it even worked pretty well, but she was just a really nice person deep down. "Everyone?"

"Well… I think I can survive. It shouldn't really have to take that much out of my time if I can do it well," Haley defended, arguing her side to herself more than Peyton. "Do you think it's a good idea or am I committing friendship suicide?"

Peyton had to admit that the girl had a pretty good thing going if she could work out the details. And if it would make Nathan and Lucas happier, and maybe even get them to get along, she would do everything she could to help. "It's a good idea. I'd like to help you out, if I could."

"I was praying that you'd say that," Haley sighed in relief. "I could really use a partner in crime. First, I need Nathan's number. And I'm really going to need you to help me keep Luke clueless."

The blonde nodded. "Gotcha. Here, give me your cell phone and I'll put Nate's number in."

Haley handed over the small device and merely watched as Peyton began putting in the numbers. "So what's going on with you and Lucas, anyway?"

A short snort escaped Peyton and she shook her head. "Hell if I know. I thought that maybe when I broke up with Nathan things would be able to go somewhere with us but so far… there are just so many other little things standing in the way."

"Don't you just hate complications?" Haley asked. "I mean, I watch you guys and I know that something's up there. There's a spark, some undeniable chemistry that's as plain as the plastic surgery on Michael Jackson's face. If you aren't a couple before Christmas I think I just may have to step in and work a little matchmaking magic."

"Which I'm sure would end up a matchmaking mess," Peyton chuckled, locking the keypad on Haley's phone and returning it to her. "I'm sure we'll figure it out on our own, thanks."

"Suit yourself, but the offer still stands," Haley replied, pocketing the phone. "I hope they get out here soon. It's getting pretty cold."

"Yeah… should you really be out here? You're probably still sick."

"I'll be fine when Lucas gets his ass out here," she sighed, rubbing her hands together to warm them up.

"What a nice way to ask for my presence," Lucas chuckled as he came up behind her. His gym bag dangled from one hand and he was smiling, obviously still energetic after the victory.

Haley rushed towards him, flinging her arms around his warm body in a tight hug. "You were wonderful!" she exclaimed happily. "Congratulations, Luke. That was such a great game. You looked so alive out there."

He smiled back at her and returned the hug. "Thanks, Hales. You, on the other hand, are not going to be able to talk tomorrow," he teased her.

She merely stuck out her tongue at him.

"She's right; you looked amazing tonight," Peyton voiced, smiling somewhat shyly at him as he released his friend.

Lucas beamed at the compliment. "Thanks. Hey, we should all go out and get something to eat to celebrate."

It was then that the rest of the team burst out from the locker rooms, coming out in a loud, crowded mass. Still, Haley's eyes caught hold of Nathan's and for a moment they had a staring contest, each unwilling to be the first to give in and glance away. Nathan was the first to break, and when he looked back she was focusing her attention on Lucas again. "You know, I think I should get home," she announced. "I'm still kind of tired from everything… you two go out and have fun."

Peyton knew exactly what the other girl was doing: she wanted to get started on her plan with Nathan, and she also was trying to set Lucas and Peyton up with some alone time. Peyton appreciated both of the actions.

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked, concerned but not altogether against the idea of spending time with Peyton away from everyone else.

"Positive. I'll talk to you guys later." With that, she turned and began to walk away.

"Wait, Haley. Didn't you get a ride here with Peyton?" Lucas called after her.

"Nope, I drove separately," Haley lied quickly, before Peyton had a chance to say anything. "I just parked over that way." She motioned over her shoulder and smiled reassuringly at him.

Lucas frowned in confusion but decided to let it slide. "Okay. Bye."

She turned around and wrapped her multicolored scarf around her neck, pulling anxiously at the tips of her hair as she pushed it back. What she was about to do was completely insane. If it didn't work out, she'd also just bought herself some walking time in the dark night. "Shit. Why don't you think before you speak, Haley?" she growled softly to the air.

"Talking to yourself?"

Nathan. Bingo. "Something like that," she replied simply, turning to face him. He was dressed in his basketball shorts and a plain sweatshirt, looking vibrant after the game. For a moment she was surprised to see that she found him attractive. Sure, he'd always been the 'good looking jerk' to her, but this time the attraction actually pulled gently at her gut. What the hell? Maybe she was still sick. "You're driving me home."

He chuckled at that, wondering if he would ever understand women. She had blown his off the first time they'd really spoken, ignored him during school, and glared at him all night and then she came up to him saying that? It wasn't a request, a question, or even a command. It was stated as a fact. He was driving her home and that was that. "I don't remember offering my services as a chauffeur this evening," he commented idly.

"I need to talk to you. I also need to get home. It just seems fitting."

"Then I guess it does. Come on, I'm parked over there." He resumed walking with her at his side and noticed that her strides matched his perfectly. With Peyton, he'd always felt like he had to slow down to walk by her side. Haley just kept up naturally.

Once they were inside his truck and Haley had made sure she was securely buckled in, for she had no clue what his driving skills were like, she felt it was safe to speak. "What you did last night was childish and stupid. Are you really that intimidated by Luke?"

Nathan sighed. He was actually starting to think that maybe she would make things easy on him and then she had to bring up Lucas. It made him want to pick her up and toss her out onto the street. "Tell me you're not really here to fight me on Lucas's account."

Haley took a deep breath. She hadn't intended to burst out like that, it had just happened. She needed to calm down. "That's not all I want to talk about, but it's a big part of why I'm here," she replied. "Lucas fights his own battles."

"Fine. Tell me how to get to your place, then talk." He realized that he probably should have been nicer to her—for his plan to work, she had to like him—but he was too irritated with Lucas Scott to care. His father was probably already home with a lecture about how badly he'd performed that night waiting for him, and it was largely because of Lucas. If he hadn't been out there, Nathan would have gotten twice as many integral shots.

Haley gave him the directions and then took a deep breath. She was about to take the plunge and she hoped to God that she was doing the right thing. "I'll do it. I'll help you with your English on two conditions."

He liked that. In fact, he liked that a lot. Only the conditions spoiled the moment of triumph. "What are they?"

"One: that you stop hazing Lucas. I mean it, Nathan, lay off him. No more late night visits, no more ignoring him during games and practice. Let him be one of your teammates—equal treatment. You slap them on the butt after a shot, you do the same to him."

"Haley…"

She grimaced. "Never mind that one. I doubt he'd appreciate it. But you know what I mean."

He had expected that and, for the time being, he was willing to do it. "And the other?"

"Lucas doesn't find out about this. It's between you and me."

Now that was the shocker. He had expected that she would have told Lucas about their conversation already, that they would have had a long discussion over whether or not she should do it. His biggest fear was that she would go to him in the first place. Instead, she was asking him to keep things to himself. Suddenly his luck was improving. "I can handle that."

Haley nodded, reality slowly sinking in. It was done. She had told him she would help him; now she couldn't back out and take the cowardly road. "Okay. When do you want to have these tutoring sessions? After school I have to work."

"And I have practice," he added.

"So the morning it is?" she guessed, trying not to sound as reluctant as she really was. She was not a morning person—never had been. Getting up early just to meet with Luke's arch enemy, a conceited jock, was not her idea of a good time.

"I guess so. Maybe we could meet at the docks at around seven?"

"Okay. When do you want to start?"

"The sooner the better, I guess." The sooner they started, the sooner he could win her over and start hurting Lucas.

"Right… have you started reading the book?" she asked curiously. Panic was starting to creep into her voice. Haley stressed out enough about keeping her own grades high. Taking on the responsibility of someone else's grades suddenly seemed like a truly horrible idea. What had she gotten herself into? She was going to _ruin _his future!

Nathan hesitated. "I tried. Does that count?"

Suddenly Haley started to laugh. In fact, she started to laugh so hard that she found it hard to breathe after a moment. "Oh, this is going to be interesting," she chuckled when she had regained control over some of her faculties. "I've never done this before, Nathan. I don't know how to teach but I'll try my best if you promise me to try to learn."

"I'll try."

"Good. The book isn't really that hard to grasp if you can force yourself to pay attention to what's going on." Before he could interrupt her with a groan, she continued, "I know, that's going to be the hardest part. I'll help you stay in it. Mr. Turner wants us to read the first part in two weeks, but I want you to read at least the first chapter by Monday so we can go over it at the docks."

She was actually going to make him work. He should have known that his plan would come back to kick him in the ass somehow. The last thing he needed was this girl to go on some power trip because she felt that she could push him around. "But if we have two weeks—"

"He'll be moving faster than we'll be reading, I'd guess. Getting ahead is better. It'll give us more time to go over the things that are giving you trouble."

It sounded so reasonable when she put it that way, but it still didn't sound like fun. "That sounds great," he lied.

Haley noticed that he didn't sound sincere, but she pushed the thought away. It wasn't like she was risking anything by doing him the favor. She would tutor him, not become his vulnerable best buddy. "That's my house right there."

Nathan maneuvered the car to a stop in front of her house and turned at her with a forced smile. "I'll see you Monday, then?"

Trying not to sigh, Haley opened the door and climbed out. "Sure thing. Don't be late, and thanks for the ride." With that, she closed the door and walked up to her home without looking back.


	4. Chapter 4

She shouldn't have set her hopes so high. After their semi-civil conversation on Friday, Haley had thought that things might just go well with she and Nathan.

No such luck.

"You're late."

"I slept in."

Haley stared at Nathan in disbelief. It was their first tutoring session and he expected to saunter in almost half an hour late because he felt like getting a little more beauty sleep? "You slept in?" she repeated incredulously. "Nathan, that is _not_ an excuse for being late. 'My car broke down' would be a valid excuse. 'I was sick' would be a valid excuse. 'My house burned down and a piece of timber fell on me so it was hard to get here with my gimpy, bleeding leg dragging on the road behind me' would be a valid excuse. 'I slept in' is not a valid excuse!"

He shrugged carelessly, taking a seat on the bench across from her. He'd had a run-in with his father that morning; Haley's irritation was nothing compared to that of Dan Scott, and he wasn't in the mood to provoke her. "It's what happened. But if it'll make you feel better, I'll remember that in the future."

She groaned. "You're impossible."

"I've been told that on occasion."

Didn't anything get through that thick skull of his? She was steaming inside and he looked as if he'd just been woken up from an exciting daydream he wished to return to. "Just out of curiosity, how do you get through life? Does everyone really lay down and make exceptions for you and your oversized ego just because you play a game?"

"I play a game wonderfully," Nathan corrected her, a smug smile on his face.

"You're one cocky bastard, you know that?"

"I've heard that one before, too."

Picking up her copy of _Crime and Punishment _from the tabletop, Haley forced herself not to scream. "Well then I guess we better start looking into Dostoevsky. I'd bet good money that you've never listened to anyone going over that before."

Nathan frowned, reluctantly going for his backpack. "I've gotta admit, that's one pick-up line I've never heard. Memorable, Haley."

"Pick…pick-up line?" she stuttered, seeing red. "Let's get something straight right now. I don't care who you are. I don't care how many points you score when you play basketball. I don't care how many awards you've won. I don't care how many girls want to occupy your bed at night. I don't even care how many cheerleaders you've slept with, okay, because I can guarantee you, I won't be impressed. I'm here to help you pass English so you'll leave my friend alone, not get into your pants."

She was kind of fun when she was angry, but Nathan was supposed to be getting on her good side, not pissing her off and giving her more of a reason to hate him. Forcing himself to look remorseful, he reached out and took one of her hands in his. She abruptly pulled it back, sending him a death glare. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm just not used to that."

"What?"

"Honesty. I get it now. Can we start?"

Grudgingly, Haley nodded her head. "So what do you think about the book so far?" When her answer was silence, her patience began to fade once more. "You didn't read it?"

"I tried but—"

"No buts! God, Nathan, do you really expect to pass without reading the book? There's no way I could tell you everything you need to know… and I'm not willing to try. Either do the reading or fail, it's that simple."

"What about the deal?" he demanded.

"I'm having second thoughts. The way I see it, you fail English and get kicked off the team. Then Lucas is fine and I get to keep my sanity." Haley stood up and started packing her stuff into her bag.

Nathan huffed. "Now who's the cocky one, huh? You think I can't pass English without you? I can do it on my own. It just seemed easier with some help."

"Then do it on your own." 

"Fine."

"Fine." She zipped up her bag and hurriedly started away from the table, cursing beneath her breath. He didn't need her and she didn't need him. It was that simple.

Except nothing about the dejected look on Lucas's face after he'd been shoved into the mud and forced to walk home was simple. It was pitiful and it was heartbreaking.

Haley hesitated, biting her lip at what she was about to do. It's for Luke, she reminded herself before whirling around and going back to face Nathan. "Tomorrow morning you better be here on time and I swear I'll rip you open if you haven't read the first chapter."

Nathan nodded. "Got it." He didn't let the relieved smile touch his lips until she had turned around once more and was stomping away from their table.


	5. Chapter 5

"How was tutoring?"

Haley glanced up from her notebook and merely shook her head as Peyton sat down at her table in study hall. "For tutoring to have gone well or badly, there had to actually _be_ some tutoring going on," she groaned. "We just yelled at each other. I don't know if this is going to work if both of us are supposed to live."

Peyton grimaced sympathetically. She had known from the beginning that Haley wasn't going to have it easy with Nathan, but she firmly believed that she could handle him. Nathan didn't get a lot of opposition from people his age; if Haley gave him that, she'd be fine. "What went wrong?"

She dropped her voice so that only the girl sitting next to her could hear her response. "Well I think everything started going to hell when I said 'Sure, Nathan, I'll tutor you.'"

"What went wrong this morning?" Peyton amended, trying not to laugh. It really wasn't funny that Haley was having so much trouble with Nate… but the look on her face was priceless. Peyton had always thought Haley was the kind of girl who was always in control. Now she looked like she was about to explode and Nathan Scott would be on the receiving end of her rage.

Haley rolled her eyes just thinking about Nathan's cocky grin and smooth talk. "He waltzed over almost half an hour late with some lame excuse about having slept in, and he had the _nerve_ to make sick insinuations about my motives. Then. to top it all off, he hadn't even done the reading. How am I supposed to help him if he doesn't even open the book? Magic? He needs a psychiatrist, not a tutor."

Peyton wished she could have been there to see Nathan trying to get through to Haley with the presumptuous lines that she herself had always given in to.

"Tell me again why I agreed to this."

"Because you care about your best friend."

Frowning, Haley looked down at the tabletop. "I could always find a new best friend, right?"

"You _could_," Peyton allowed with a smile, "but then who would put up with Lucas? Because I'll tell you right now, I'm not taking the job."

Haley laughed. "He can be pretty tough to take," she teased.

It was weird to be having a pleasant conversation without having to worry about looking cool and playing the part of the happy cheerleader, but Peyton realized that she enjoyed it. With Haley, she could be real and that was something she'd been searching for for a long time. "Look, you can handle Nathan. Just don't let him walk all over you because then he'll never stop. You're tough. You can take him."

"But can I keep myself from killing him?"

"Let's hope so," Peyton replied, smirking. "Orange isn't your color."

Haley's eyes widened in surprise and a smile slowly spread over her face. "Thanks a lot." She was silent a minute, doodling on the paper in front of her, before she looked up at Peyton again. "I'm crazy for doing this, aren't I?"

"We're all crazy," Peyton affirmed. "At least you've got guts."

~*~

The pep-talk with Peyton was exactly what Haley had needed. Talking to the other girl had reminded her that she was strong enough to manage anything that was thrown at her—including a punk with an attitude like Nathan. When she got home from work that night, she started to work and by the time she fell asleep, she was ready to face another day.

And another altercation with Nathan.

She arrived at the docks right on time. Nathan wasn't there yet, which didn't surprise her, so she placed her bag next to her and started to read one of her favorite books, which she'd brought with her just in case Sleeping Beauty decided he wasn't ready to rise on time.

It was over ten minutes later that Nathan got there, looking rested and groomed as ever. "Be proud of me. I'm on time today."

"I'm not sure what time zone you're living in, but here you're twelve minutes late. That's not on time," Haley pointed out as he took a seat across from her.

"Well I tried, okay? It's better than yesterday. I have to get points for that."

__

Don't let him get to you. Just be cool and do what you're here to do. "Being on time isn't like quitting smoking, Nathan. It's not a step-by-step system, you just do it."

"Well I'm sorry we can't all look as good as you when we roll out of bed."

Was he trying to be charming again? Because asshole Nathan was easier for her to deal with than the sweet-talker who lied through his teeth. "Look, the point is that you're here now. Did you at least do the reading?"

Nathan glanced at her suspiciously, unsure of her behavior. It seemed unlikely that the girl he'd fought with the day before would just let something like this drop. "I did, but it was a waste of time. Not much of it made sense. Why are writers always so boring?"

"Writers aren't always so boring, though I will admit that _Crime and Punishment_ can be a little dry," she argued. "You know, it's sad that the first book you ever read is Dostoevsky. It'll turn you away from literature forever."

He wasn't sure, but that sure sounded like she was making fun of him. "I _have_ read before."

"Playboy and TV Guide don't count." Haley reached into her bag and pulled out the paper that she had typed up the night before. She placed it in front of him before he could say a word in response to her comment. "I want you to do this tonight and we can go over it tomorrow. It covers both chapters one and two, so I suggest you get working."

Nathan stared at the paper before him in shock. He scanned it and could barely comprehend the fact that it held questions—questions that she actually expected him to answer. Some of them contained names he'd never even _heard_ of before. "Tell me you're kidding."

"Do I _look_ like I'm kidding?" Haley asked, staring him straight in the face. "You asked me to help you pass English, Nathan. This is the best way I can come up with right now, so either you do it or this isn't going to work. At least try it before you start complaining."

He didn't need to try it. Contrary to popular belief, he had done homework before, and he didn't like it. He didn't have to test her method to know that he was going to hate it.

"Do you have any specific questions you want to ask before you tackle that on your own?" She noticed his eyes drifting to the paper and quickly slapped her hands down, blocking his view of the questions. "Not questions from the paper, questions from your head."

He scowled as he looked back up at her. "Yeah. Why am I here right now?"

"Funny. I've been asking myself the same question," she replied with a smile, feeling quite pleased with herself as she got up and started to walk away. Not only had she managed to get the upper hand with him, but she had done it without yelling. "See you in class, Nathan."

Nathan stared after her in bewilderment, torn between his need for revenge against Lucas and the desire to ball up the paper in his hands and throw it into the water. She was so frustrating! 

And yet… there was something almost comical about the way she handled the situation—well, it would have been funny if it hadn't been him that she was enforcing her torture upon. Well, he would do her stupid worksheet. He would answer the questions and shock her with his knowledge. So far, he hadn't done very well in the execution of his plan. She didn't like him and she wasn't even close to turning her back on Lucas for him.

But she would. And it would start the next day, because he was more than ready to win Haley over and go back to his normal life.


	6. Chapter 6

"I don't believe this."

Nathan smirked at Haley's amazement, enjoying the surprise on her face as she looked over his paper. It had taken entirely too much time to complete, but he was beginning to think that it was worth it. "And here I thought you had so much faith in me," he mocked her.

She shot a glare up at him but hastily returned her gaze to the worksheet. She had thought after the way he reacted the day before that she would be seeing a blank paper and an equally blank stare when she asked for his work but this… this was not what she'd expected. "Did you do this yourself?" she asked suspiciously.

"There's that trusting soul I admire," he replied sarcastically. "Yes, I did it myself."

"Seriously, Nathan, did you hire someone to do this for you?" For the most part, the answers were not only right but also complete. What had happened…?

"You're joking. Like I could actually go to someone and ask for help on that?" he scoffed. "Right, because I want everyone to know that I'm doing work that I don't _have_ to be doing."

"Right, where was my head? You wouldn't want someone thinking that you actually have a brain that works."

It was almost as if she was angry with him for doing what he had done throughout his life—just get by in school. Nathan figured she just couldn't understand because they were too different in that aspect, so he ignored the biting sarcasm in her voice. "Right. Next I'll tell everyone that I'm picking up knitting and chess."

Haley smirked sardonically. "I'll be sure to tell Brooke. She'll spread it around for you, I'm sure."

Sometimes he really wasn't sure if she was kidding or not… "Don't even think about it. Why do you keep looking at the stupid paper? I'm telling you, I didn't pay someone to do it and I didn't go to Cliff Notes or Sparknotes or anything like that, either. I actually did it myself."

"I know you didn't look at those sources… I looked in both and wrote questions that they wouldn't be any help on," she murmured, her gaze still on the sheet of paper.

"You need a life, you know that?"

Haley bristled. "And you need to be smacked upside the head. Think we should help each other out?"

Nathan chuckled. "You know, I never pegged you as the violent type but these threats you keep tossing out… I think you might need some classes on anger management, Ms. James."

"Maybe I just need to hit someone senseless and get out the pent-up aggression," she muttered, holding out his paper. "I believe you did it."

"What was it that convinced you? My boyish good looks? The innocent eyes? The charming grin—"

"The corners of the paper," she interrupted before she was forced to listen to what appeared to be a lengthy monologue on the greatness of Nathan Scott. "They're all wrinkled, like you got frustrated and wanted to crinkle it up but then decided not to. No paid off nerd would have done that and I honestly don't think you would have thought to plant evidence."

"Well since you know I did it—and spent over an hour searching for the answers, might I add—I have a proposal for you."

"Oh Lord…" Haley sighed, placing a hand over her face. She really, really didn't want to know what he was thinking.

"I did a good job, right? Right?"

Haley groaned but reluctantly nodded her head. She had to hand it to him—he'd done more than she'd expected.

"And good work should be rewarded, right?"

"If you suggest anything that would include drinking, dancing, or the exchange of bodily fluids, I quit right now," she stated, deadly serious.

Nathan laughed at her unease. "That wasn't exactly what I was thinking of, but the last one does hold some promise…"

"I'm think I'm about to vomit."

"Then I'll make this quick. I spent last night working on that paper for you. You spend tonight doing something with me."

He couldn't possibly be for real. "You're kidding, right?"

Nathan grinned, remembering when he'd asked her the same thing the day before. "Do I _look_ like I'm kidding?"

"You have practice."

"We get out early today."

"I have to work tonight until seven."

"I can pick you up afterwards."

Oh, God, she really was going to be sick. "The worksheet was a part of the tutoring, the favor that I'm doing for you," she bit out. "I shouldn't have to reward you for it—it's what you asked for from me."

"But I've been nice to Lucas lately," he pressed. "And I'm being a good little student. Besides, I see the look in your eyes when you do this stuff. You can't say you're not enjoying being a tutor. I'm sure you can take one night out of your busy schedule to do something with me."

It was hard to deny what he'd said. She felt like she was doing something meaningful in her quest to help him raise his grades. But compensating him for one paper? It seemed like a trick. "_Something _sounds awful ominous to me."

"It won't kill you, I promise."

"Somehow that doesn't reassure me, Nathan." Her mind was in a whirlwind as she tried to figure out how to escape his evil plan. He had something up his sleeve, she was sure of it. She just didn't know what. "Just because you answer a few questions for me on _two_ chapters doesn't mean you're king of _Crime and Punishment_. If I give a prize for good work, I need to know that the work was damn good."

"Then ask me a few questions. Stuff that's not on the paper. If I get them right, you have to spend the night with me."

"Spend the night with you?" she repeated, raising an eyebrow. "There's no question in the world hard enough to make _that_ the prize, Scott."

His eyes drifted over her slowly, making her feel as if she were under inspection, before returning to her face. A satisfied smirk was on his lips. "Damn. That would be a honor we could both enjoy."

"Doubtful. Very doubtful."

"You know what I meant."

Haley sighed. On one hand, agreeing to his stupid scheme made it possible that she would have to forfeit even more time to spend with Nathan. On the other hand, he wasn't likely to give up until she agreed. She needed to think of some damn hard questions, and fast. "Fine."

They agreed that she would come up with ten questions for him about the first two chapters. Haley sat in silence, flipping through the pages of her book while Nathan stared at her from across the table, that smug, confident smirk on his face the entire time. Why did that look have to be so unsettling? She could barely breathe with him looking at her like that, much less think cleverly enough to trap him in his own arrogance.

The questions were written and handed over. Nathan smiled at her sweetly before he started going over them, and to Haley's surprise he started writing almost immediately. She watched with a sinking feeling in her stomach as he continued to go easily through the mini-quiz. How did she get herself into these situations?

"That was fun," Nathan announced smugly when he was done and handed over the paper. "I'll pick you up at the café at seven. See you later." He picked up his bag and walked away.

She wanted to throw a rock at him just to upset that strutting rooster, but knew he would only keep grinning that stupid grin. Haley steamed as she read over his answers. They were right. Every single one… and he knew it, too, the cocky bastard.

By the seventh question, she was beginning to feel an odd sense of pride. She was going to have to spend time with him away from school and their tutoring sessions, true, but she had also managed to force him to do his work. He was understanding the book. There was no doubt in her mind that he could do it all along, but when teachers assigned work they lacked the right incentive.

Pride.

Nathan was far too proud to let her roll over him. Haley could only hope that pride was enough to keep him going throughout the novel, because the beginning was a piece of cake compared to the complexities of when the real plot began.

Still, there was a smile beginning to form on her lips because she was pleased with the fact that he at least got the first two chapters.

Then she got to the bottom of the paper, and again she was reminded why she had such a hard time getting along with that boy.

He was an overconfident, outrageous, hormone-driven boy who thought he was a god among mere mortals.

Because underneath his last answer he had written her a little note.

__

That was too easy. You're looking forward to tonight, aren't you, James? Don't hide it, we both know it's true. But you are cute when you play hard to get. See you tonight, sugar.

One thing was for damn sure: Haley would have to find another way to push Nathan, because she wouldn't be making any more worksheets.


	7. Chapter 7

Seven o'clock was quickly approaching and Haley was beginning to get nervous. During school she had meticulously avoided Nathan at every possible moment, but in the confines of their English classroom she couldn't escape him. He passed her desk as he sauntered into class just before the bell rang, and took a moment to smirk her way and say a quiet, "I'm counting down the minutes till seven."

So was she, but it sure wasn't with frenzied anticipation.

How she was supposed to survive the entire evening with that smug jerk was beyond comprehension. The pride she felt at his accomplishment that morning had dwindled throughout the day and now, mere minutes before his scheduled arrival, she just felt trapped.

She didn't know Nathan well enough to predict his actions, but from what she knew about him, she dreaded the night before her. It would be just like him to push aside her earlier warning and take her to some crazy party where everyone was either drunk, having sex, or both.

That was certainly not a scenario Haley felt comfortable with.

As she left the café, she briefly considered shoving a knife into her back pocket just in case things got out of hand. Then she laughed at herself because the truth was, if she went on like this she would be in a mental ward for the insane and paranoid in a matter of days.

"You're right on time. Why am I not surprised?"

Haley turned to see Nathan leaning casually against his truck and quirked an eyebrow at him as she walked towards the parked vehicle. "I'd have to say I'm the one who's surprised. I thought I'd be waiting for you for at least ten minutes."

He shrugged as both of them climbed in and he started the engine. This was the night he intended to win her over and he'd made sure to get there on time and save himself from her wrath. "Well I couldn't say I slept in because it's night and burning my house down just so I could have a gimpy, bleeding leg to blame didn't seem appealing," he returned.

Haley almost laughed and couldn't help but take a sideways glance at the boy beside her. He was being witty and even pleasant, a far cry from the brooding and arrogant basketball hero she usually encountered. "You're in a good mood. For some reason I think that's a bad sign for me." He was going to do something horrible to her. That's why he was so pleased with himself—he was already beginning to envision the torture she would endure.

"You know, if you don't stop trusting me so much I may begin to think that you like me."

She gave a short laugh. A girl not like Nathan Scott? It was unheard of. "What, you mean you don't already? Just this morning you were propositioning me."

"I was giving you an offer most people wouldn't refuse," he corrected her, his eyes on the road.

__

There was the Nathan she knew—cocky as ever. "Yeah, sure. Well I'm not most people."

"So I've noticed."

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

There she went again, making things harder on him. He'd never met a girl who resisted him so powerfully before. "It means that you're not some fawning bimbo, which I think in your book would be a compliment. Stop trying to find something offensive in every word I say and just be quiet for a while."

She opened her mouth to argue with him and then decided against it. If she had to spend the next few hours with him, why not try to make them as pleasant as possible for both of them? Tomorrow was another day—they could fight then. 

For the next few minutes they were both silent. When Haley realized that he was on the road that lead them directly out of town, she frowned suspiciously. "Where are you taking me, anyway?"

He looked at her and smiled mysteriously. "It's a surprise."

The dim lighting as he drove cast shadows against his face, highlighting his dark and expressive eyes. Had evil ever looked quite so good? Quickly Haley directed her glance out the window. "You're going to take me somewhere quiet and kill me, aren't you?"

He just laughed and continued driving.

For some reason, she found that comforting. "You know, you'll never get away with it. People may not know that we have any connection to each other, but the blame will come back to you eventually," she went on.

"You watch too many soap operas."

"Excuse me? I've never watched a soap opera in my life," she informed him.

"Really?" he asked teasingly, sounding surprised. "You should. You don't know what you're missing."

This time Haley couldn't stop her laughter. He was teasing her. Nathan Scott was not only teasing her, but he was doing it in a friendly, not taunting, way. He'd even compromised his macho act for the sake of a joke. Haley wondered, not for the first time since Nathan had first approached her, if she was in another universe, or if she'd fallen into a weird daydream. She was almost tempted to pinch herself.

Instead, she just smiled and continued staring off into the dark, wondering what the night held in store for her.

It had been hard for Nathan to decide he and Haley would do together. He was trying to get on her good side, so he immediately ruled out anything that he would normally do with his friends. Parties and drinking weren't Haley's style. He needed to find something less daring and more laid back.

'Laid back' was not Nathan's usual MO and, if he was perfectly honest with himself, he was at a loss.

Then it had hit him—a place he'd seen on the way home from an away game. It wasn't the type of place Nathan would normally go to, which was exactly what made him believe that it just might work. Quiet but entertaining. Simple, innocent, fun. Kind of like Haley James herself.

At least, when she wasn't busy threatening him.

When Nathan pulled into a parking lot almost half an hour later, Haley looked around in surprise. "This is where we're going?"

He hid the fact that he was scared that she'd hate the idea well and nodded his head. She turned to look out the window as he pulled into a parking space, a smile lighting her face. Mulligan's. She hadn't been there in years. It now had a little more lights and a few upgrades, but the miniature golf and arcade center still looked very much the same.

"So we're playing miniature golf?"

He noted, with relief, that she sounded pleased, maybe even excited. "Right. Ever played before?"

Immediately the top of Karen's Café—and the small golf course she, Luke, and Karen had created up there—came to mind. Played before? She played at least once a week. "Once or twice," she answered simply as she got out of the truck.

He smiled at her confidently as he locked up the car and they started walking towards the entrance. "Don't worry. I'll show you how it's done. You're not a sore loser, are you, James?"

Such confidence. Well, if she had anything to do with it, that audacious act would be taken down a notch by the end of the evening. "You'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"


	8. Chapter 8

"You ready for this?"

"As I'll ever be," Haley assured Nathan, trying to hide her smile. He seemed so sure that he'd be able to show off in front of her, but she was almost as positive that he wasn't a golf regular. Basketball was his thing; it encompassed a good portion of his energy, both physical and emotional. Next to that, miniature golf couldn't have been more than a speck in his universe.

This was going to be interesting.

"You want to go first?" he asked, trying to be polite.

"Thanks, but I'd like to see the master at work first. You know, maybe pick up some tips." She almost gagged on her own words.

His eyes narrowed at her. "You're mocking me."

"Just a little."

He shook his head and placed his bright yellow ball onto the black mat. His eyes scanned the course before him, outwardly keeping a cool mask over his face. But inside, he had no clue what he was going to do. Miniature golf? Sure, that had been a great idea. Did it even have a strategy, or were they just supposed to aim, hit, and pray it went into the hole?

"Are you contemplating the greatness of fake grass or just thinking about how to attack the opposition?" Haley wondered with a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I'm choosing to ignore you," he told her calmly before giving up on strategy and just hitting the ball. They both watched as it bounced down the green carpet and straight into the bushes on the side of the course.

Haley burst out laughing, unable to control herself as she watched a somewhat flustered Nathan go out in search of his ball. He was grumbling beneath his breath when he returned, brushing dirt from the bright yellow orb indignantly. When he stood silently and stared at her, an unamused look on his face, she covered her mouth in a vain attempt to quiet her giggles.

"I… I'm sorry," she finally got out, leaning against her putter for support. She wasn't sure if her side would ever stop hurting, but it was worth it.

"What are you laughing at?"

"You," she replied honestly, barely suppressing a fresh wave of laughter. Seeing Nathan Scott go into the bushes in search of a golf ball after bragging about his athletic prowess had to be her favorite part of the night. It was a memory she would never forget—and she wasn't about to let him forget it anytime soon, either.

"That was just a practice shot."

Haley snorted. "Sure it was."

Nathan frowned sulkily. He wasn't used to being made fun of—hell, he wasn't used to doing so poorly at a sport—and he certainly didn't like it. "You think you can do better? Be my guest."

Haley shrugged. "All right." She dropped the her red ball onto the mat and took a quick moment to assess the situation. It was a pretty easy course in which there were a few cement blocks situated around the hole meant to block direct shots; they always started out with the easy ones. She carefully angled her putter and hit it, being careful not to put too much force in it, or she'd end up like Nathan. The ball rolled down the course and bumped into the side wall, slanting the direction of motion just enough to get it past the block and toward the hole.

It stopped a few inches short to the right, but there was no doubt in either of their minds that the next hit would be a chip shot.

Haley walked down to inspect her work. "Well, I'm a little rusty, but I'm sure I'll get back on track in a hole or two." Then she gently hit the ball into the hole in one clean stroke, smiling at the gentle taping sound it made as it bounced against the plastic cup. "Such a sweet sound, isn't it?"

Nathan just stared at her, completely floored. "I've created a monster."

"Nah. You just brought one back to life."

He groaned pitifully and wondered what in the world he'd gotten himself into. No matter what, though, he was going to do his damn best not to let Haley James beat him.

It was a nice thought, not giving up and fighting until the end, but it just didn't help him. Nathan was a great athlete in a lot of things, but star golfer he was not. Sure, he held his own once he realized that he didn't need to slam the putter against the ball to make it move. Towards the end of the game, he even managed to pull a few holes through under par.

But Haley went over par a grand total of one time, and that had only been after he'd poked her in the side while she was shooting and caused the ball to go way off course.

And she'd even beaten him at that hole.

Some of that undeniable athletic prowess shone through, but in the end Nathan realized that Haley was a more formidable opponent than she'd let on—and that's when he'd started to cheat. Whenever she went to take a shot, he did his best to distract her. He'd even tried to switch their balls on the fake grass, which made Haley run threateningly after him with her club raised above her head.

Needless to say, he didn't try that again.

And in the end, skill and experience paid off despite the cheating and cockiness of Nathan Scott.

"I beat you by ten," Haley announced, sitting down on one of the outside tables they had stationed by the golf course.

"No way. How did that happen?"

"I took away a few of your strokes. Pity points, man," she teased.

"No. You cheated. Let me see the scorecard," Nathan objected, reaching out and taking the little card from her grasp.

"Go for it. The numbers don't lie," Haley replied, taking a long sip of her coke and watching his face over the lid of her cup. She had to admit, she was having a lot more fun that she'd thought she would.

"This can't be right," he complained. "If you weren't the tutor here, I'd demand a recount."

"What was that you said earlier about sore losers, Scott?" she baited sweetly.

He pretended to scowl, but he couldn't really be mad when she looked so cute beaming over her win. "You want to go play some b-ball, Haley? Rematch on my turf?"

Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "No way. I reign supreme in mini-golf and you take basketball. I'd probably knock myself out if we played, anyway. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the most graceful person in the world."

Nathan snorted; that went without saying. She had tripped on the fake grass or missed curbs and almost fallen twice that night. "I noticed. Come on, let's hit the batting cages." He started to move away, but she stayed rooted to the spot. It took him a minute to realize that she wasn't with him. "What's wrong?"

"So _that's_ how you're getting your revenge. I beat you at golf and you take me to the cages to get pounded black and blue?" she asked. "I see your tricks, Scott. I'm staying out of that metal prison. You hit the balls flying at you; I'll watch and pray your pretty little face isn't completely mashed to hamburger meat."

"That's not what—pretty face?" he repeated, a smile creeping onto his lips.

Haley rolled her eyes. Great, she'd awakened that cocky side of his again. "It's an expression."

"It's how you feel," he gloated.

"I need to find that golf club again… maybe I could knock some sense of reality into you."

"Now, don't go changing the subject."

She laughed and got up, walking towards the inside arcade. "I don't hear you. Come on, Nathan. Maybe you'll have better luck beating me at air hockey."

But she wouldn't count on it.


	9. Chapter 9

"Yes! Game over! I won."

Haley wrinkled her nose as she dropped the controller and stood up. "Yes, you won, just like I said you would. I suck at video games." She threw a withering glance at the large machine and shook her head. "Your bruised male ego feeling better?"

"Yes, actually," he shot back, still beaming over his victory.

"Of course. You know, this place was an inspired choice."

"How do you mean?"

She shrugged, looking around the arcade. It was getting late, so the building was almost deserted. "It's not too close to home, so people wouldn't see us. It's the middle of the week, so it wouldn't be crowded." At his surprised, almost guilty look, she smiled. "What, you think I didn't notice? I'm not offended that you chose a low-profile place. I'm glad you did."

"And hey, it turned out to be fun."

She smiled. "Yes, it did. We should probably go home now, though. You have some reading to do, Scott."

"Now I know you must be kidding," he said as they walked together towards the exit. "I can't read a chapter tonight when I already have math and history to do when I get home."

The night air was cold when it hit her face, and Haley snuggled deeper into her jacket. "Just try. I'm not expecting a whole lot tomorrow, but at least try."

"Fine. I'll try."

They walked in silence towards the car, and suddenly Haley smiled. "I can't believe I kicked your butt at golf."

"Hey! I won the video game challenge," he defended himself good-naturedly. If he'd been with anyone else, he probably would have gotten irritated and started yelling at the mere thought of him as anything but a winner. But with Haley… he didn't feel the need to show off to her. She didn't care if he won or lost, and she wouldn't hold it against him if he wasn't perfect.

"But I beat you at air hockey, too," she pointed out, enjoying the way he shot her a sideways glare. "And you know what they say… best out of three."

Nathan chuckled and playfully nudged her with his shoulder. "Just get in the truck, James."

They climbed in and soon Nathan was driving them back towards Tree Hill. He found himself wondering how it was that he'd had so much fun with her that night. Honestly, that hadn't been his intent. It had begun as a mission for him to get on her good side, a mission disguised as her punishment for making him work so hard, but it had turned into more than that. He'd enjoyed himself.

Better than that, he'd seen a different side of Haley James. Usually, she was so focused and determined, weighted down by worries and responsibility. But once she was away from everything—school, work, Lucas—she seemed to be free. She laughed, she teased, she grinned, and she let herself just be a teenager.

He needed to think about this. It wasn't possible that Haley had managed to grow on him so quickly. No, he was just confused.

Haley found herself drifting off during the car ride back. Occasionally she would look at Nathan, who seemed to be lost in thought, and considered breaking the silence, but there was something serene about it that made her hold her tongue.

It was a companionable silence. 

She was shocked to realize that the only other person she'd ever had that with was Lucas.

But she didn't feel the same way about them—not even close. Lucas was her best friend, someone she trusted with her life. He'd been there for her through thick and thin and he cared about her unconditionally. And Nathan was… Nathan was a cocky, thick-headed asshole jock.

Except that wasn't the person she'd just spent an evening with. When they were at Mulligan's, and even on the way there, he had been confident, sure, but he'd also been funny and—dare she say it—nice. 

It was all too confusing. She didn't want to admit it, but her feelings towards Nathan were beginning to change. He wasn't her biggest adversary in the world anymore.

Second biggest, maybe, but definitely not first.

Nathan pulled to a slow stop in front of Haley's house. "So, you lived through the night. Wasn't too bad, right?"

"It was bearable," she admitted with a smile. "But don't think this is going to happen any time you do something right."

"Hey, not like you have to worry. I don't do things right that often."

"You know, for someone so cocky in some aspects, you don't give yourself enough credit in others," she said softly as she opened the door. "Think about what you did this morning, Nathan. If you gave a little more effort, you'd be able to do the same thing with any test a teacher throws at you. Just… think about it." She shook her head, knowing that she was babbling and that her words probably meant nothing to him. "Good night, Nathan."

"Night…" He watched as she walked up to her house and slipped quietly inside, and even as he drove home her words rang softly in his head.


	10. Chapter 10

She yelled at him. She threatened him. She made him work. She even beat him at golf and air hockey—but she sucked at video games.

All in all, Haley wasn't half as bad as he'd expected her to be. When Nathan was completely honest with himself, he actually kind of liked spending time with her. Originally, he'd thought that she would be boring, nerdy, and apprehensive—and in the beginning, she was certainly the latter—but once she opened up she was witty, amusing, and intelligent. 

Beyond that, despite her sometimes cutting remarks in their conversations, she was always patient with him when he didn't deserve it in their sessions and she didn't mock him over the details that he failed to comprehend. 

She knew what she was talking about and had a way with explaining her thoughts in a clear manner. As time went on, Mr. Turner began going over the book and Nathan found that he understood what was going on—not because of the teacher but because of Haley.

She made his mornings a little more bearable. Haley took his mind off of his troubles and made him laugh. 

It was weird, but since that night at Mulligan's he felt that he could be himself around her, tossing aside the arrogance and bullshit that buried him when he was at school. He didn't even feel that comfortable around his best friends; there was always a mask that needed to be in place, a façade of strength and conceit.

"Scott, you're zoning out on me," Haley announced, flicking his arm lightly with her pen. "Don't tell me there's something in your mind more interesting than Svidragaylov and his past?" She frowned teasingly and cocked her head to the side.

He let out a small laugh and shook his head. "Is that even possible?" he asked sarcastically.

"You wouldn't think, would you?" she chuckled in response. When he didn't reply, instead looking listless and faraway, she sighed to herself. She didn't mind spending time with Nathan but he was undoubtedly a complex character that she had yet to fully understand. "Is something wrong?"

"Tell me something about you that nobody knows."

Haley stared at him, unsure where the question had come from. She was almost positive that he hadn't heard a thing she'd said about the character Svidragaylov in _Crime and Punishment_. "You wanna run that by me one more time?"

His dark eyes were locked onto hers with a startling intensity. "Tell me something about you."

"Like what?" she asked, pushing aside her chapter notes to give him her complete attention. His general course of action seemed to be impulsive and random, and she wasn't sure she minded that. It certainly made their morning sessions more interesting.

"Something nobody knows. Something surprising."

She eyed him wearily, sensing something lurking beneath his question. "Something nobody knows or something _Lucas_ doesn't know?"

Nathan looked distinctly guilty but tried to appear perplexed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You know, Nathan, you've gotten a lot better but you still have some of that old bullshit in you."

Irritated that she had to bring up the topic of Lucas, Nathan smiled wickedly. "Old habits die hard."

"I hate to break it to you, but Luke's still my friend and he knows me about as well as I know myself. You're not gonna get one up on him about me, so I suggest you stop trying."

He sighed. "Just tell me something about you."

She was disappointed that she had ruined their fun, so she raised an eyebrow teasingly in an attempt to regain some of the playfulness. "Something dark and private?"

An unexpected warm feeling tugged at his heart as he looked at her, leaning across the small table with a devilish gleam in her dark eyes. For the first time, he realized that she was actually a very pretty girl. A long, shiny mane of chestnut colored hair was down and flowing free as usual. Her smooth, creamy skin was lightly tanned and the vibrant life in her eyes startled him. And then there was that smile… something about her smile was beginning to get to him. He couldn't explain it.

"Something dark and private would be great."

She grinned and leaned closer. "I'm really a man," she whispered in his ear before returning to her position with a completely serious look on her face. "Dark enough for you?"

Nathan grimaced. "Too dark."

This brought a laugh from Haley. "Really, I should have stayed a male. I would have been much more attractive, I think."

"I disagree," Nathan voiced emphatically. "Come on, be serious. Tell me something real."

What had he meant when he disagreed? That she was pretty? Or simply that she would make a truly horrid-looking man? More importantly, why did she care? "How do you know that isn't real?"

"Because you look nothing like a man," he said seriously.

Haley shrugged her shoulders. "The miracles of modern medicine."

"You're really starting to frighten me."

She smiled and began to think about what she could tell him about herself. She hated to admit it, but she was starting to value him as a friend—and that was dangerous. Letting him get even closer to her, letting him into her mind and sharing with him the details of her life, was even more dangerous. The more time she spent with him, the more she saw his good points. She _liked _who Nathan really was when he was away from the pressure and expectations of his father and the rest of his peers. He was kind and funny and cute, and Lucas would kill her if he ever found out she felt that way… "Okay. I like chocolate."

"I already knew that," he pointed out with a smile. After the first week he'd been pretty good about being on time, but he'd slipped up once because he'd forgotten to set his alarm clock. Luckily, he had thought to come bearing gifts and the venomous look on her face because of his tardiness had faded immediately when she noticed the cups of hot chocolate in his hands. Not only was she a chocolate addict, but she also had a soft spot for coffee and tea.

"Oh, yeah." She bit her lip and looked up at him, noting that he was looking straight at her. "I write songs."

Nathan smiled at the timid voice in which she made her confession. Was Haley James, the same girl who had told him off on more than one occasion, really unsure of herself over something? "Now I'm intrigued. You're gonna have to sing one for me sometime."

She shook her head emphatically. "I don't sing, I just write."

"Why?"

"Honestly? My voice is only so-so and I find the composition a lot more fun than trying to make myself _not_ sound like a dying cat." She pretended to wince. "I don't even want to think about it. What about you? Tell me something about you that I don't know."

"I didn't expect to like you when I asked you to help me," he revealed without thinking. Immediately he wondered why he had chosen to share that specific detail with her, but he knew he couldn't take it back.

Instead of blowing up at him, Haley chuckled. At least she knew he was telling the truth for sure. "I've got to agree—you've grown on me."

"With my pretty face, how could I have not?"

Haley groaned. Why had she ever let that stupid compliment slip through her lips? "Right. Pretty-faced boy who _sucks_ at golf."

"Yeah, yeah. I'm glad things turned out this way, though," Nathan told her, a genuine smile gracing his face. He was surprised to realize that he was telling the truth—his words were more than just a line to get to her.

"Me too." Haley smiled sweetly in return, then swatted at him with the papers that held her notes. "But if you don't pass today's test, I'm going to quit, so you better listen up."

He rolled his eyes. He'd been doing fairly well on their tests in English. He would never forget Haley's proud grin when he got his first test back from Mr. Turner—an eighty-eight. She had been even happier than he was.

"Fine," he sighed dramatically, but his attention was soon riveted on Haley as she began explaining to him the importance of Svidragaylov's history and his connection to Raskolnikov's sister, both of which were going to be the main topics of the essay questions on their exam.

"Wait, so you're telling me that Svidragaylov's a dirty old man?" Nathan interrupted quickly. "I figured out that everyone thought he killed his wife, but he was a perv too?"

Haley laughed outright at the astonishment in Nathan's voice. "Right. And that's important because it relates to how he acts later on…" When Haley was done, she found herself the object of what appeared to be intense scrutiny.

"What? What's wrong?" she asked cautiously, beginning to feel self-conscious with the way he was staring at her.

"Do you ever put your hair up?"

"Were you listening to me at all?" she demanded incredulously. "And what is with you today, are you just being random question boy?"

"I was listening to you," Nathan assured her, finding her reaction to him amusing. "But I was also wondering why you always keep your hair down. Now answer the question."

She frowned and stared back at him challengingly. "Tell me what I just said about the gift Svidragaylov offers Dunya."

"You have no faith in me," Nathan commented, meeting her strong stare. "He offers her ten thousand roubles because he feels guilty and wants to win her back after treating her like shit, but she doesn't want them because she feels it would be dirty to take his money."

"I'm impressed."

"Answer the question."

She sighed, wondering why it was even a topic of discussion. Did it really matter that much whether or not she was a boring, unfashionable drone? "Actually, I do put my hair up sometimes. More often at home," she answered. 

"Hmm… interesting."

"Not so interesting. Oh, shit, we're running late. I better go," she said, hurriedly getting up from the bench and shoving her papers into her bag. By the time he stood up, she was already hurrying away from their table. "I'll see you in class."

"Haley, wait!" He jogged the few steps it took to catch up with her and gently grasped her arm, forcing her to slow down. "You're gonna be late if you walk. Let me give you a ride."

She bit her lip, thinking about it. A quick glance at her watch confirmed that she would never make it to class on time if she walked to school, but it was an unspoken rule between them that they not be seen together on campus. She didn't want Lucas to see her and figure something was up, and he seemed perfectly fine with ignoring her the way he used to while they were in public. Haley figured it had something to do with keeping up his social standing. After all, it couldn't look entirely good for his reputation to be seen with someone like her—an outsider in the 'popular' group.

But she hated being tardy and chances were, Lucas would be in class by the time they got there. They weren't running much of a risk. Haley looked up at Nathan's face and smiled slightly. "Thanks."

He smiled back. "No problem."

When they got in the car, Nathan noticed that Haley continued to rub her hands together in an attempt to get warmer. "You cold?" he asked while driving down the main road to their school.

"A little," she admitted.

Keeping his eyes on the road, Nathan reached out to put on the heater and flipped it up to full blast. "Maybe this will help."

It was a sweet gesture, not something she would have expected from Nathan weeks ago. But now, it seemed perfectly in character for him to be kind to her. "Thanks, Nathan, but you don't have to—"

He cut her off with a playful flick to her scarf. "Shh. You're all wrapped up—that must mean you're cold. I can't having you freezing to death in my car; they would probably blame me for it."

"With good reason."

"I resent that."

Haley wrinkled her nose at him and unwrapped the scarf that was wound around her neck, as if in defiance. "I just don't want to get sick again. It wasn't long ago that I was puking my guts out for days; it's an experience that sticks with you for a while."

"Not a pretty mental picture."

"It wasn't too fun to live through, either," Haley chuckled softly, turning to stare out the window and toying with the scarf in her hands. "You ready for this week's game?"

"Of course," Nathan answered without hesitation. "We've been looking really good in practice."

"Lucas told me," Haley replied. "I'm glad. Listen, thank you for leaving him alone. I know you guys don't get along and it's probably hard for you to play nice but… I really appreciate it. He seems happier without the extra hassle, you know?"

Honestly, he could see that. The entire team was playing better now that they didn't have to worry about underlying tension between the players. Even Nathan could feel a step-up in his game. He tended to ignore Lucas but even when they talked they could manage to be civil and, as his time with Haley went on, he found himself less interested in using her to hurt her friend and more worried about just forming a solid friendship with his tutor. If he hurt Lucas, he would hurt her, and for some reason he didn't want to hurt her. She made him feel human, something he hadn't felt in a long time. "A deal's a deal, right?"

"Right." Haley forced a smile and nodded, staring at the trees and building as they passed by in a blur. That hadn't been the answer she'd been looking for. What she wanted to hear was that he'd changed his mind—about Lucas, about her, about the way he lived his life. She wanted to hear him say that he'd realized that being nice was better than behaving like a jerk, that even if she suddenly decided not to help him anymore—which she would never do—he would _still_ be nice to Lucas because it was right and, beyond that, it was making him happy, too.

Apparently that was wishful thinking on her part.

Nathan wasn't sure what was happening to him. He'd started his plan thinking that he would win Haley's trust, do as she asked for a while, and break her to hurt Lucas. It didn't matter how she felt afterwards; she could feel used, hurt, angry… he didn't much care. 

But now he knew her, and the thought of using her and facing her wrath and hatred afterwards left a bad taste in his mouth. She'd become an important part of his life, a part he didn't want to lose over something so stupid. Maybe his plan needed a little reworking.

When Nathan pulled his car into his parking space at school, Haley glanced over at him curiously. God, she wanted so badly to know what went on in his mind. "Thanks for the ride… again. One day I'll be sure to return the favor," she chuckled. It always seemed he was helping her out by driving her around.

"You drive?" Nathan asked inquisitively.

"Yes."

"Do you have a car?"

"Yes," she answered, smirking at his surprised look. "And before you ask why I don't drive, it's because I feel lazy when I drive places that I could just as easily walk to. Walking is my form of exercise. Take that away and I'll expand like a balloon."

"Well it seems to work well for you."

Haley laughed, looking down at her hands and silently cursing the blush that slowly spread over her cheeks. So that was how he got what he wanted with the opposite sex—charm and that sweet, boyish, almost shy smile that could melt the insides of any normal woman like butter. Haley thought that she was strong enough to resist him, but her wall of steel was failing. She had never been one to be deeply moved by an attractive male. She needed to remind herself that he was a jerk. Who had known that deep down she was such a pansy?

"We're gonna be late," she pointed out, hurrying out of the car. "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Yeah. See you later," Nathan echoed, watching with a sense of loss as she took off towards her first class. "What the hell is wrong with me?"


	11. Chapter 11

"You were late this morning. Couldn't force yourself to roll out of bed on time?"

Haley bit her lip as she peeked across the table at Lucas. When he hadn't mentioned anything about her running in to class late, she'd hoped that he had either not realized it or forgotten. No such luck. Apparently Lucas was still as observant as ever and he was also becoming half elephant, never forgetting a detail. 

At least the café was fairly empty. She felt more comfortable being just with him while she spun her horrible web of fabrication. It had been weeks since she'd started tutoring Nathan and so far they hadn't been caught, but Haley feared that their luck would only last so long. "Run-in with Cody," she lied. "I don't like siblings. At lease I killed him—no more troubles."

"Except your imminent jail time," Lucas commented dryly, giving her a skeptical glance. He knew that look; Haley had always been a lousy liar.

Shaking her head, Haley walked behind the counter to distance herself from him, feeling stifled by her best friend's presence. The sick feeling that always accompanied lying filled her gut. Unfortunately there was no way to get around it, so she forced a smile onto her face and tried to sound light. "It's not like I have to worry. It's okay to kill your siblings."

"And in what crazed world is that the law?"

She blinked, looking surprised. "That's not it?"

"Only in Haley-ville."

"Well, shit," Haley sighed. "You think they know about what I did to Cody? I hope I hid the body well enough…"

He knew that she was only trying to divert his attention, but Lucas couldn't help but chuckle. "Tell me what the real problem was. I know you didn't kill your brother. He's only been in town for two days and I doubt you could even take him down. Besides that, something's obviously eating at you. What's up?"

"I could too do it." She sighed and sat down on the stool behind the counter, fidgeting with her fingers. "Luke, you know I love you, right?"

"Okay, I get really worried when you start breaking out the mushy stuff," Lucas teased, trying to lighten the mood. When he saw that Haley still looked downtrodden, as if she were breaking inside, he frowned. "Hey. I know you love me—I love you, too. Whatever the problem is, it's okay. Nothing's that bad."

__

If only you knew, Haley thought miserably. She hated not telling Lucas about her tutoring Nathan—especially now that she was beginning to like the younger Scott boy. Logically, she knew that eventually she would go to putty because of a guy. After all, she was seventeen years old. It was bound to happen someday. 

With her virgin heart, however, she had always thought she would go for a sweet guy, the guy you could depend on and trust—kind of like Lucas. Out of all the guys she knew, why did it have to be Nathan Scott that made her feel lightheaded? 

"Tell me that nothing could destroy what we have," she requested softly, both sounding and looking the part of a lost child hoping for help.

Lucas didn't know what was going on, but he didn't like the sound of it. Haley was not the type of person that felt, let alone showed, emotional weaknesses. They had survived years together; one more challenge would do nothing to them, he was sure of it. "Nothing can destroy our friendship," he told her strongly, without hesitation.

Haley let out a relieved breath, finally raising her eyes to meet his. "Thank you." Then she went back to wiping down the counter.

He stared at her incredulously. "So what's bothering you?"

"Nothing, now," she answered simply. "I'm assured of your love for me. I feel better." She grinned cheekily at him, noting with a small degree of amusement the frustration written across his features. This was a time she would cherish… just in case he'd unknowingly lied.

~*~

"Big game's in two nights, Nate. You ready?"

"When am I not ready?" Nathan asked cockily as he sent Tim a confident grin. They had just run through an amazing warm up and he was feeling at his best. There was no doubt in his mind that their biggest rivals would be crying by the time they left the gym on Friday night. "We're going to demolish Coge City."

Chuckling, Tim said nothing and just turned to his locker, stripping off the sweaty jersey he wore and tossing it inside.

"Hey, Nathan. Do you have my government notes?"

Wiping the sweat from his face with a towel, Nathan turned to his teammate and friend, Jake. "Yeah, they're in my truck. You wanna run out and get them?"

"Yeah, I need to get out of here pretty quick."

Just like Jake; always running around. Nathan reached into his locker and grabbed his car keys, then turned and tossed them to Jake. "No joyriding. I'm not walking home because your ass decided to have some fun."

"Gotcha." Jake laughed as he left the locker room. He was almost tempted to move the car into a different parking space, just to freak out Nathan and give him a scare, but he had to get going. As he was walking up to Nathan's truck, he heard someone approaching him from behind.

"Hey, Jake. You headed for work?"

"As soon as I get something from Nate's car, yeah," Jake answered, an easy smile appearing on his face. "Nice practice, Luke. You and Nathan are even working together instead of playing against one another. You patch up your issues?" Not to say that he wasn't happy about the change. Lucas was a good guy and, deep down, Nathan was too. Things were better for everyone now that they were getting along. The previous tension hadn't been good for the team.

Lucas shook his head, his mind wandering suspiciously to Nathan's perplexing change of attitude towards him. It didn't make sense that all of a sudden he would want to be civil towards his half-brother. The animosity had been too deep and powerful to simply be forgotten. "I don't know what's going on with him," Luke admitted. "One minute he hates me, the next, we're teammates."

"He's a moody guy," Jake agreed as he unlocked Nathan's car. "Just keep trying. He's not really the jerk he likes to act as." Jake began searching for his notes—and found them a moment later, hidden underneath a notebook… and next to a soft black scarf. "I think Nate's got a little explaining to do," Jake laughed, holding up the scarf for Lucas to see.

Immediately, a smile touched Lucas's face and a laugh escaped him. He could clearly see a comical picture of Nathan with the fuzzy scarf wrapped around his neck and a basketball in his hand. But then he took a closer look at it and realized that it was a familiar scrap of fabric. Too familiar. Reaching out for it, he searched with dread for the defining trait.

The almost nonexistent strands of blue that streaked through the center of the scarf. A strands Haley had sewn into her scarf because she said it looked too plain and nondescript otherwise. She played a good game, but she was a girl at heart and she liked to be special.

The question was, what was Haley's scarf doing in Nathan's car? Lucas's mind began to spin as he tried to find a plausible excuse. It didn't make sense. Only weeks before she had threatened to kill Nathan if he didn't stop picking on Lucas. Now she was getting rides with the guy she declared to hate?

"Something wrong? You're pale. Luke, what's up?" Jake asked, worried about his friend's reaction.

"Nothing. I just need to get out of here." Turning with the scarf gripped tightly in his fist, Lucas walked away quickly, lost in his thoughts. What was going on? If something had happened with Nathan, Haley would have told him. She would have known that he would care—that he would protect her and make sure that jerk left her alone. She had to know he would make things okay.

Right?

Was that what had been bothering her so much lately? Or was it guilt that plagued her mind and made her worry about the fate of their friendship? 

Lucas had to know.

He walked blindly towards his mother's café, and with each step he took his anger and hurt grew. There was no good answer for his questions. In any case, she was hiding things from him. Either she was going behind his back and befriending his greatest enemy or she was being harassed and not telling him. He'd spent a lot of the day with her and she'd seemed relatively fine. A little worried, but not upset. It seemed unlikely that she could be so calm if someone was giving her trouble.

By the time he'd reached the café, Lucas was livid. Haley was alone in the diner, wiping down tables. Looking at her and thinking about the possibility of she and Nathan together drove a stake deep into his heart. He stepped inside, immediately drawing Haley's attention.

"Hey, Luke. You would never believe what happened earlier. There was this woman who… is something wrong?" His blank, almost cold stare was unlike everything she was used to from her best friend. He was looking at her with such untouched anger and torment that she felt it like a physical pain. "Lucas, what is it?"

"Here." He laid the scarf on the table between them, watching as her face fell. "You left it in Nathan's car." Then he turned to walk away. Her face had said it all; guilt was clearly written over her normally kind features.

Haley stared after him with a growing sense of fear. Reasonably she knew that she would see him again soon regardless of his wishes. Emotionally she felt like he could be walking out of her life forever if she didn't stop him. How had she been so stupid as to leave something of hers in Nathan's car? "Lucas, wait! Please, let me explain…"

Lucas paused and turned to face her. "What were you doing in his car, Haley?" he asked, his voice low and controlled.

"Luke, I'm sorry. I was only trying to help," Haley told him hurriedly. "It was an exchange. I'm just tutoring him."

"You don't tutor."

"I do now."

"You know how I feel about him."

Suddenly a horrible thought occurred to her. What if when Lucas had found her scarf he had confronted Nathan and they'd gotten into a fight? She'd made a mess of everything… "Tell me you didn't get in a fight with Nathan over this, Luke."

"What, worried about your boyfriend?"

"That's not what this is about, Lucas. I told you that I'm just tutoring him."

"Right. Of course you are. That's why you didn't mention this before." Lucas shook his head in disappointment. "I can't believe you did this, Haley. You _know_ that I hate him."

Now she was getting frustrated. She had tried to help him out and this is what she got—an angry best friend and stupid fuzzy feelings towards the bad guy. Nothing was going right! "What I know is that he was bothering my best friend. He was making you miserable, Luke, and I wanted to help out. He's not a bad guy underneath all the crap. If things were different, I think you guys could've even been friends."

He stared at her incredulously. "He's a jerk, Haley!"

"He's not," she argued. "You don't think I hated him when this first started? He was so full of himself and he made crude jokes, but it's all a mask. I know it seems like he's a jerk but wen you get to know him… he can be nice, Luke."

"I can't… I can't listen to this." Without another word, he left the café. 

Haley stared after him, a deep frown etched across her face. Sometimes life really sucked.


	12. Chapter 12

She wasn't sure why she had come. Maybe it was because after being ignored for two days she hoped Lucas would talk to her. Maybe it was because she wanted to support her friends—both Lucas and Nathan. Or maybe she was secretly a masochist looking for pain. For whatever reason, Haley was at Tree Hill High's gym for the night's game against Coge City. Even as she walked with the flow of people towards the bleachers, she felt weary of the night ahead.

"Haley! Wait up!"

She turned, looking for the familiar face. Nathan was kneeling by the players benches in his jersey, reaching for something in his bag. A bright smile lit his face beautifully and for a moment Haley regarded him with suspicion. She was in too foul a mood to be around someone so joyous—and Nathan was hardly _ever_ so happy. She approached him cautiously. "You're excited. Who'd you kill?"

"Very funny. I ran into Mr. Turner after school today and I wanted to show you something." He pulled a paper from his bag and held it up to her proudly.

Haley's eyes lit up and a smile touched her lips. "An ninety-one? An _A?_ That's amazing, Nathan!" Without thinking, she launched herself into his arms and gave him a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you. I told you that you could do it. See, all the work paid off after all."

He was reluctant to release her, he realized with a twinge of shock. Her petite, soft body fit nicely against his and the happiness from her grin was practically radiating out, rolling over him in warm waves. When she stepped back, he smiled at her again. "It was all you, Haley. Without your threatening me I wouldn't have even bothered…" 

He trailed off when he saw her face drop, her gaze resting somewhere behind him. Nathan turned and mentally cursed when he saw Lucas frozen a few feet away, a look of disgusted horror on his face.

"Luke." Haley took a step towards her friend, her heart pounding in her chest. Things seemed to just keep getting worse.

The older Scott brother shook his head and walked by, pushing his way roughly past Nathan and completely ignoring Haley altogether as he headed down to the other benches.

Haley felt as if she were about to fall apart.

"Haley—"

"He knew already," she cut him off quietly, her eyes trained on her friend's retreating back.

Nathan was for a moment speechless. That wasn't something he'd expected. "How?"

"I left my scarf in your truck. Somehow he found it."

"How is that possible? Haley, I didn't—"

"No, it's okay," she insisted before Nathan could go on, forcing a smile to her face. "I'll talk to him later and explain everything. Congratulations on the test. Have a good game, okay?" She gave him another meek smile and numbly walked away, towards the fans' seats. She say down between excited parents and a few giggling girls. Immediately she knew she didn't belong there. Her pain and worry didn't fit in with their anticipation and hope. She felt like a big mar against the clean atmosphere.

Haley forced herself to stay, not because she wanted to but because she felt that leaving would be an act of cowardice. Nathan had asked her to come and cheer for him at their tutoring session the day before and she had promised that she would, and she wouldn't break that promise. Not even a moody Lucas would take that from her.

Watching the game was almost painful. Lucas refused to work with Nathan on the court and soon the act was returned in kind. They seemed to take pleasure in seeing the other do badly. Both players were actively avoiding each other and sacrificing the team to do so. By halftime, Haley felt like she was suffocating in a bad dream.

She had done this. Unintentionally, sure, but she had still done it. In trying to make everyone's life more pleasant, she had managed to make a disaster. Now she had to set it right.

The only problem was, she had no clue how.

~*~

Haley's hands were shaking as she walked up the steps to the polished wooden door. The house was large and as beautiful as she had expected it to be. Obviously nothing less than the best for Dan Scott, she thought with an inelegant snort. 

Lucas hadn't spoken to her since the night he'd left her in the café, and she was beginning to worry that maybe after the game the night before he wouldn't ever take that step again. It was the longest they had been mad at each other in their years as friends, and it was making Haley panic. She felt alone and scared, and the person she usually turned to for help was the one causing her helplessness.

So instead, she turned frantically in the other direction. 

She turned to Nathan.

Before she could change her mind and go back to her car, Haley raised her fist to knock on the door. She took a step back and waited patiently for an answer, hoping that Dan wouldn't be making an appearance during her trip.

A moment later the door opened to reveal a petite, pretty blonde woman. Deb Scott looked over the girl on her doorstep with a puzzled but polite smile. "Can I help you?"

"Hi, Mrs. Scott. I was wondering if Nathan was home? I'm Haley. I've been—"

"Helping him with English," Deb filled in, a genuine smile touching her lips. "He's mentioned you. I just want to say thank you for what you're doing. It's about time he worked on his grades. Oh, come in. Nathan's just in his room. It's right through there, the second door on the right."

Haley gratefully smiled at her and followed the instructions to Nathan's room. She wasn't exactly sure what she was going to say—she didn't even know what she wanted to get out of this little visit—but she hoped that words would come to her when she saw him.

And she really hoped that she didn't burst into tears if he mentioned Lucas.

As she was approaching the door Mrs. Scott had directed her to, Haley heard voices. She frowned, wondering if he was alone or not, and came to a stop in front of the partially open door.

"So what's up with you and that chick, Nate? You getting some from her or something?" Haley recognized it as Tim's voice and rolled her eyes. Just what she needed.

Nathan laughed. "What chick? You mean Haley?"

"Yeah, the smart chick. Lucas's friend. She's kind of brainy, but when I looked at her the other night at the game… she's doable."

Haley bristled outside the door. She didn't like standing outside eavesdropping on their conversation, but she was curious as to what Nathan would say to his friend.

"I saw you two at the docks the other morning," Tim went on, his voice dropping a pitch suggestively. "You looked pretty cozy."

"Me and Haley?" Nathan's voice was haughty with disbelief. "You've gotta be kidding me. Think about it, man. She's Lucas's friend. What would piss him off more than me getting close with his best friend and then hurting her?"

Haley staggered back as if hit. Piss off Lucas? Was that all she had been to him? 

Suddenly she had the intense urge to laugh. There she was, thinking that Nathan was a friend she could count on and go to for advice, and he was using her to get to Luke. She felt like a fool—a stupid, blind, pansy-hearted fool. She had actually fought with Lucas for that pig.

She felt dirty, covered by an invisible slime that she couldn't shake from her skin. Haley was torn between marching into his room to confront the jerk and running away to hide in isolation. After standing in shocked silence for a minute she decided on the latter. She didn't have the emotional control or strength to face him without breaking down. She wasn't looking for more humiliation; she'd had enough of that for the day.

Haley backtracked through the house and once again found herself face-to-face with the kind eyes of Deb Scott. "Did you have trouble finding it?" Nathan's mom asked.

"No. Actually, I just thought of a surprise for him. He's been working so hard lately and I was just hit with a brilliant idea," she lied quickly, her mind whirling to find a plausible excuse to get her out the door. "Would you mind not telling him that I was here?"

Deb looked perplexed, but she nodded her head. "Of course. It was nice to meet you, Haley."

"You, too, Mrs. Scott," Haley replied, already making her way to the door. She hastily returned to her car and started the ignition. A minute later she was driving fast down the street, away from the liar she had considered a friend.

A few minutes later, Haley pulled her car over and turned off the engine. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her cell phone and searched for the number Peyton had programmed in weeks before. Without a second thought, she hit send and listened to it ring.

"Hello?"

He sounded so innocent, just like any teen living a carefree life. All he needed was basketball and those stupid lackeys of his, Haley thought resentfully. Basketball was so important in his life—so important that he would hurt anyone to secure his game. "Nathan, it's me."

"Haley." He sounded surprised and not exactly pleased. "Um, do you need something?"

"Tell Tim to stop chomping at the bit, I only need a minute," she sighed with irritation, feeling angrier than she had been in a long time. "I know what you're up to, Nathan. Why you really wanted me to tutor you… that's some fucked up game you're playing, don't you think? I mean, do you think that people are your toys to move around at will?"

The other end of the line was silent before Nathan cleared his throat and managed to get out a quiet, "Haley, I—"

"I _really_ don't want to hear your bullshit excuses, Nathan," she cut him off. "I quit. You did it, okay? You wanted to hurt me to hurt Luke and you did. Now leave me the hell alone." She flipped her phone shut, turning it off, and tossed it back into her bag before starting up the engine once more. It didn't matter where she was going, all she knew was that she had to drive.

Haley ignored the tears that rolled slowly down her cheeks as she pulled out onto the street.


	13. Chapter 13

It had never in his life hurt so much to win. Nathan had accomplished exactly what he'd set out to do—he'd caused Lucas pain, maybe even ruined his friendship with Haley—and he hated himself for it. After receiving Haley's call, he sent Tim home and sat on his bed in a state of shock.

His brain didn't want to accept that Haley knew his horrible plan. Not only did she know, but she hated him for it. How could she know? The only person he'd told about it was Tim, but Tim couldn't have spilled the beans because he'd been in Nathan's room since finding out. Nathan wondered if Haley just had a hunch, but he quickly dismissed that thought. She never would have spoken so quickly if it had only been her intuition.

God, he hadn't expected it to hurt this much. He'd become attached to Haley since the tutoring started, and the thought that she might never smile at him again was like a dagger in the heart. There was only one solution to his problem, and even that one was uncertain: he had to find her and explain everything to her, right down to the way he felt about her now.

Nathan called Haley's cell phone, but it was turned off. He called her house and Karen's café, only to be told by both that she wasn't there. Needing to make sure they were being truthful, he drove to both and found out that they were. He checked the docks and the basketball court Lucas always played on. He went to the coffee shop she liked to hang out in and what she called her 'thinking swings' in the park, all to no avail.

He didn't know what else to do. Going to Lucas wasn't an option; even if they were on speaking terms, Luke would never tell Nathan where his friend was. So Nathan went home dejected and promised himself he'd try again the next day. Waiting until Monday to stalk her around school sounded like a horrible idea. He would find her and talk to her before then.

The next morning Nathan returned to the places he'd searched the day before. At her house the door was opened by a tall woman with dark brown hair who seemed to be a couple years older than Haley. He figured it must have been one of her siblings. "Yes?"

"Hi, I was wondering if Haley's home?"

"No, she's not here right now. She's at work."

"Really?" he asked doubtfully. He'd just been to the café and he hadn't seen her there.

"Yeah. She just left about five minutes ago," the woman told him. "She goes in later on Sundays because Karen doesn't want her to work too hard. Like that would stop Hales, right?"

Nathan grinned brilliantly at her, backing away towards his car. "Right. Thanks. Really, thank you."

"No problem."

Cody James looked out the door at his younger sister, a curious look on his face. "Who was that?"

Megan shrugged her shoulders, watching the truck speed away with a smile on her face. "I don't know. Some guy looking for Haley."

"And you told him where she was? You don't care that you might have just told a killer where our baby sister is?"

The brunette shot him a doubtful look over her shoulder. "He was a cute guy looking for my sister. Unlike you, I can admit that she's growing up. All I have to say is, way to go, Hales."

Haley took her time on the way to the café, walking carefully along the streets. She relished in the quiet, giving her time to think clearly about the events that had been happening in her life lately. Namely, her problem with Nathan and Lucas.

No, there was no problem with Nathan. He was a jerk who would now vanish from her life like a bad dream. There was only Lucas and finding out how to get him to talk to her again. Then she could work on repairing their friendship.

If that could even be done.

God, when had things gotten so screwed up?

"Haley! We need to talk."

Haley glanced up at Nathan and the betrayal hit her anew. Damn it. She'd been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't heard him coming until it was too late. His truck was already parked in a spot on the street and he was hurrying after her. She considered running, but it would be useless. She was only a few feet from her destination—work; where could she hide? "I don't want to talk to you, Nathan."

"Haley, if you would just let me explain—"

"I'd really rather not listen to anymore of your lies, though I must admit that you're pretty good at deception."

Nathan shook his head. "And you said you don't want to talk to me."

She frowned. "I don't."

"Yes, you do. It's okay, Haley. You can say what you want to say."

"I don't want to say any—oh, what the hell. I _do_ want to say a few things to you," she admitted hotly, skidding to a stop. Her fiery eyes turned to him, full of rage and hurt. "Lucas was right about you. I fought with him for you, Nathan. I tried to tell him that you weren't the monster he thought you were and the whole time you were playing me. I started to think that you were maybe an okay guy and then you go and prove me wrong. And the thing that really gets me is that the whole time I thought I was making a friend and doing a good thing, I was really just being used and making a mess of everything I find important in my life. So I lost my best friend and get to look like the bad guy for trying to help out, and it's all because of your conniving ass."

"Haley, I'm sorry—"

"No, you're not. Because people who do things like that don't have hearts or consciences, and without those you can't feel sorry," she snapped. "God, I don't want to talk to you and I don't want to listen to you because I'm pretty damn sure you have nothing to say that would change how I feel right now. The game's over Nathan. You won. Now just leave me alone."

"I can't."

"Why the hell not?"

"I can't make myself walk away from you."

"Fine, then I'll make it easy for you. I'll do the walking."

"Please listen to me. Just give me five minutes, Haley."

She had never heard Nathan Scott sound so pleading before. He was known for his confidence, the way he could own a room and every girl in it. To hear him begging her to give him a chance… she didn't want to let him get to her, but he did.

Haley glanced at her watch. "Five minutes, but I don't know what you could possibly say that would make me believe you're any less of an asshole."

"I'm sorry—"

"Nathan, if all you're going to say is 'I'm sorry,' you might as well save your breath because it means nothing to me," she interrupted, her voice hard and ice cold. "'I'm sorry' might get you out of trouble with the cheerleader of the week but I'm bigger than that and this _mess_ is bigger than that."

Nathan sucked in a breath, feeling desperate in a way he'd never felt before. He _had_ to explain everything to her and make her see that she was truly important to him. No girl had ever meant this much to him before. "I know you must hate me right now, and I can't blame you for it, but you have to believe me when I say that things have changed. At first I wanted to get close to you because I thought I could hurt Lucas that way, but when I got to know you I realized that what I was planning was wrong."

She gave him a scalding glare, trying hard to remain impassive towards his imploring voice. "And when did this change occur? Since yesterday when you bragged to Tim about your master plan to use me? Oh, you didn't know that's how I found out, did you?" She smirked maliciously at him. "I went to visit you. Guess that backfired, didn't it?"

He knew he didn't have the right to, but he was beginning to lose his temper. Nathan wasn't used to people forcing him to air out his feelings—and he sure wasn't used to fighting this hard to keep a girl. "Damn it, Haley. I say things like that when I'm around the guys on the team—things that make me seem like the tough guy they see me as. Things I don't mean."

"Then you shouldn't say them. Plain and simple."

"Maybe I shouldn't but I do. We all do. I swear, that was just a line to get Tim off my back."

She smiled wistfully. "Another lie? A rare truth in this pile of crap? I can't tell the difference anymore, Nathan! Maybe I never could."

"Listen to me, Haley. You've become a part of my life that I don't want to lose. I like spending time with you. I like the way you don't take my shit and the way you smile at me when I do something right. I like the way we connect. I like that you're strong and stubborn and smart. I even like that you threaten to beat the crap out of me when I step out of line."

Haley rolled her eyes but deep down she was almost moved. Had anyone ever said anything so sweet to her before? She doubted it.

It was too bad she couldn't believe a word of it. She wanted to believe that those wonderful and kind words were true, but how could she after what he'd done? It could be just another step in Nathan's plan for revenge against Luke and Haley didn't want to be a part of that. She didn't want to be used anymore.

"Nathan, how am I supposed to know you mean it?" she asked. "It hurt, what you did. I don't want to feel that way again."

"You won't," he tried to assure her, "because with all these things I like about you, there's one thing I _love_: the way you make me feel." He took a step closer to her, eliminating much of the space between them. "I don't know how this happened but when I'm with you, I'm happier. I want to be a better person just so that I'll be good enough for you. I want to be your friend and protect you." He reached out to gently push back a stray strand of her hair. "I don't want to hurt you and I don't care about hurting Lucas."

His eyes were staring unwaveringly into hers and he seemed to be telling her the truth. Haley's heart began to pound as he gazed at her hopefully. Her legs suddenly felt weak beneath her and she wondered idly how this man, who had betrayed and used her, could still have this effect on her. Where had all her anger gone? "What if I don't believe you?" she wondered breathlessly.

"I just need the chance to prove it to you."

"I… can't." She took a step back, her heart screaming at her the whole time. Haley didn't want to back up, to distance herself from him, but she had to. Lucas meant too much to her, even if he was angry with her, for her to move even closer to Nathan. Friendship always came before… other things, and Lucas was the ultimate meaning of friendship for her. "I'm sorry, Nathan, but Luke is my friend and he hasn't talked to me in days. Right now it's possible that we can patch things up and go back to the way things were before. If I do this… thing… with you, I might lose him forever and I can't risk that."

For such a strong-willed woman, she seemed to be extremely meek when it came to Lucas and that made Nathan angry. He respected her for her strength. "Why are you letting him run your life?" he wanted to know. "You either want this or you don't, Haley."

"What I _don't_ want is to be used again," Haley snapped defensively. "I want things between Luke and I to be normal. I want to be secure in my relationships and not feel the need to constantly check to see if someone is sincere in their actions. I want these stupid feelings for you to disappear so I can walk away and never look back, but we don't always get what we want, do we?" Immediately she snapped her mouth shut, her eyes falling to the concrete. She was unable to believe that she had just said that. Her emotions had run free and she knew she would regret it.

"And sometimes we get things we never knew we wanted," Nathan commented quietly. Haley raised her eyes from the ground at the softness in his voice and nearly gasped when Nathan's lips found hers, a gentle, sweet force that sent her heart into cartwheels.

Nathan pulled away, his eyes searching hers desperately for acceptance. He was giving her a chance to push him away.

Entranced, Haley reached a hand up to gently pull him back down to her.

For a moment she allowed herself to be swept up in the sweetness of his kiss. It felt right, it felt perfect, and it was intoxicating.

And then reality hit her again. She was kissing Nathan when Lucas was been incensed about her even speaking to him? It was insanity.

Pulling back, Haley almost stumbled. She felt lightheaded and weak as she stared into Nathan's deep eyes. God, she wanted nothing more than to return to his grasp. He uncovered a side of her that she hadn't even known existed. It made her furious to think that maybe her warm feelings had been bred through his desire to injure Lucas. "Why'd you do that?"

"Because I wanted to."

"Were you thinking of me or were you thinking of Lucas?"

Nathan's face scrunched up with distaste. "You and Lucas don't exactly have the same effect on me."

"Well what _is_ my effect on you?" Haley asked bluntly, tired of the lies and the games. "What is it that you want from me?"

"_You_ are what I want from you," he told her quietly. "Not Lucas. You."

"Lucas _comes_ with me," Haley replied in frustration. "Nathan, I really don't think you understand. We couldn't work. You hate my best friend. He hates you. You guys fighting would make me miserable and I would make you both miserable. Besides, we live in different worlds. It would be too hard."

He'd never felt this way before. When he was interested in a girl, he was used to her being willing—even eager and enthusiastic—about it. Never had the girl he wanted run away. This sort of pain and disappointment was different than anything he'd felt before. They could have something great together, he was sure of it. It wasn't as if she didn't feel it; in their kiss he had known she felt the spark, too. "You're just running away so you won't have to deal with Lucas."

Haley shrugged helplessly. She was actually doing this. She was actually going to send him away. "Maybe. See, you don't want me. You're not the kind of guy to date a coward."

"You're not a coward." Shaking his head, he turned and began to walk away. In that moment Haley could see the defeat on his face and it made her ache. "You're just acting like one."

Tears formed in her eyes as she watched him, wanting desperately to call after him. She _was_ being a coward. If she only had the guts to face Lucas, to face their peers, and to face herself, she would have gone with her feelings and thrown her arms around Nathan. She liked him. She did. She was just so scared about what could go wrong if they got together.

Lucas would hate her. The two boys would undoubtedly fight even more. The team would suffer. Nathan could hurt her; after all, she'd never even had a boyfriend. Who was she to date one of Tree Hill's most desirable guys? It was a recipe for disaster.

Nathan's truck roared to life and he quickly pulled away without looking back, leaving Haley to sighed loudly into the silent air. "I thought I was supposed to be mad at him, not the other way around. How'd this happen?" she wondered aloud.

__

Stop hoping he'll come back. You're better off without him. You don't really want him anyway.

But you do.

"Haley? Are you okay?" Karen was at her side, her caring eyes worried. She had seen the whole encounter from the window of the café, but she wouldn't say a word until she got a sign from the girl she saw as her daughter. "Was Nathan bothering you?"

"No." Haley wiped at her eyes and shook her head, turning to face the older woman. "No, it was nothing."

And it wasn't—because she hadn't let it become anything more.


	14. Chapter 14

When the doorbell rang, tearing Peyton's concentration from the sketch before her, the blonde cursed softly to her empty room and carefully finished blacking in the background of her drawing. Solid knocks made her scowl as she got up and headed through the house for the door. Didn't anyone understand the concept of patience anymore? And who would be at her door and ten on a Sunday night anyway?

"I have a baseball bat and I know how to use it," she growled as she approached the door, ready to chew out her visitor.

But when she opened the door, all the annoyance faded. "I'm not sure who I was expecting, but it wasn't you," she said honestly.

"Yeah. I found your address in the phone book," Haley explained with a shrug. "Can I come in?"

"Sure." Anything to stop her from standing so timidly on the porch. She stepped aside to let Haley enter the house, then lead her into the living room. Both of them sat down, facing each other, and for a moment there was only silence.

Finally Peyton couldn't take it anymore. If Haley had taken the time to look her up and come over, something had to be wrong. "What happened?" she asked quietly.

"Nothing." Haley sighed, seeing the falsehood of that statement. "Everything."

Not wanting to rush Haley into a painful topic of conversation, Peyton decided to sidestep the Lucas issue for a moment. She knew that the friends weren't getting along because of Haley's association with Nathan. "How's tutoring with Nate going?"

The look on Haley's face was pinched and instantly Peyton knew she'd hit a sore spot. "It's not. That's over."

Peyton couldn't hide her surprise. "What? Why?"

Haley sighed again and told Peyton everything that she'd heard between Tim and Nathan, then everything she and Nathan had said outside of the café. This was her chance, her opportunity to spill out everything she was feeling, and she grasped it with both hands. All along, Peyton had been the only one who listened about Haley's confusion towards Nathan—the only one she'd told about her stupid plan to help her friend—and she was now the friend she needed most.

When Haley was done telling Peyton about the whole ordeal, she leaned back against the couch with a deep sigh.

"I can't believe him," Peyton fumed. "In the time I've known him, Nate's done some pretty stupid things, but this… this is the worst. I'm sorry, Haley. I should have convinced you not to do it."

"It's not your fault."

"But I know him."

"So do I, now," Haley admitted quietly. "I've been thinking about this—his plan, how he acted these few weeks, what he said to me today—for hours at work and I… I believe him, Peyton. I think he did intend to hurt me when it started but… it all changed. For both of us."

Peyton took a long look at Haley's face and was surprised with what she saw. "You forgive him."

"I do," Haley replied honestly. "I calmed down and looked at it rationally and saw that I was using him, too. Not maliciously, and he knew that I was using him, but I was doing it all the same."

"You like him?"

Haley looked at her helplessly. "I got used to him. You know how he is."

Peyton shook her head. "No I don't. Not with you. Don't compare what I had with him and what you have with him. Nathan and I weren't supposed to happen. I can tell by the way he looks at you that things aren't the same."

Somehow Haley wasn't comforted at that. It was a kind thought, but in her current situation, it changed nothing.

"So what does this mean?"

Haley shrugged. "Maybe nothing. Luke's still mad at me and I can't lose him."

"But you don't want to lose Nathan either," Peyton observed.

"No, I don't," Haley agreed. "I feel like I'm fighting a war with no strategy. I go to Lucas, I lose Nathan. I go to Nathan, I lose Lucas. So what can you do besides cut your losses? At least with Lucas I know I can count on him. I have for years." She smiled weakly. "Besides, there's always a chance that they'll decide to ignore Dan the Bastard and be friends so we can all be a happy, right? And don't ruin my delusions."

Peyton chuckled. "Right. A chance." Slim to none was technically a chance, right? Maybe not a good one, but a chance nonetheless.

Playing with a string on her jacket, Haley shook her head. "I babbled. That's not even what I came to talk about. I wanted to ask you something about Lucas. Do you think… no, if you were in his position would have been as angry as he is?"

"I don't know," Peyton said after a moment's thought. "You're his best friend, Haley. You would know better than me."

Haley froze as she considered those words. Suddenly everything seemed clearer to her and she knew what she had to do. Maybe it wouldn't win Lucas back, but it was a first step. "Thank you, Peyton. I think you just solved my problem." She got up and headed for the door.

Peyton stared after her in confusion. What had just happened? She'd admitted that she was confused and had no answer for Haley's questions and that had been the key to the problem? How was that possible? "What did I say?"

"Everything you needed to. Thanks, Peyton!" Haley was already getting into her car, waving a hand over her head.

As Peyton watched Haley pull away from her house, she shook her head. "Whatever it was, good luck."

It had been less than a full month that Nathan had been starting his day off with Haley and still a Monday morning without her seemed odd to him. In that relatively short amount of time, she'd become part of his routine. He hated that he wouldn't have that part of his life anymore—hated Lucas, hated Haley.

Hated himself.

By the time fifth period came around, he'd replayed their tutoring sessions in his head day-by-day, like episodes of a TV show. And when she avoided him at all costs, it hurt like hell. He laughed with his friends at their stupid jokes and paid the appropriate amount of attention to Tina, the blonde who sat next to him, but he still found himself taking quick glances towards Haley's seat. Was she paying attention? Did she see that he could live fine without her? Or could she see through his act?

As soon as class was over, Haley gathered her things and left the room. She couldn't stand seeing Nathan revert back to his old form. Just because she wasn't tutoring him anymore didn't mean that he had to stop paying attention and start failing again. He could do it by himself; for the most part she had only forced him to do his work anyway. Passing would be simple if he dedicated the time to it.

It hurt to think that he was wasting that potential. Sure, he played the dumb jock part commendably but she knew that he'd taken pride in doing well on those tests.

But right now it wasn't her business what Nathan did. Only time would tell whether or not it would be in the future. Somehow she doubted it.

Haley walked to Lucas's locker, taking a carefully folded piece of paper from the pocket of her jacket. She slid it through the vents on the front and nodded to herself, then turned and walked away.

The piece of paper was plain white, folded into four, and on the outside was a simple "Please read me" written in Haley's neat script.

Lucas had half a mind to toss it into the back of his locker and forget he'd seen it, but in the end curiosity—as well as years of friendship—got the best of him and he opened it. He missed Haley, there was no denying that. She'd been his best friend for too long for this sort of a gap between them to be anything resembling normal, and he wanted things to be back to the way they were—but pride stopped him from going to talk to her.

The fact was, he didn't want to share her with Nathan. Nathan and his father had taken enough away from him without touching Haley.

Lucas was surprised to see that the note didn't consist of a letter, but what appeared to be a poem or a song.

__

Heaven bent to take my hand  
And lead me through the fire  
Be the long awaited answer  
To a long and painful fight  
Truth be told I've tried my best  
But somewhere along the way  
I got caught up in all there was to offer  
And the cost was so much more than I could bear   
  
We all begin with good intent  
Love was raw and young  
We believed that we could change ourselves  
The past could be undone  
But we carry on our backs the burden  
Time always reveals  
The lonely light of morning  
The wound that would not heal  
It's the bitter taste of losing everything  
That I have held so dear.  
  
Heaven bent to take my hand  
Nowhere left to turn  
I'm lost to those I thought were friends  
To everyone I know  
Oh, they turned their heads embarrassed  
Pretend that they don't see  
But it's one missed step  
You'll slip before you know it  
And there doesn't seem a way to be redeemed  
  
Though I've tried, I've fallen...  
I have sunk so low  
I have messed up  
Better I should know  
So don't come round here  
And tell me I told you so...

Lucas, I'm sorry that I hurt you. At the time I didn't see the damage that my actions could invoke and now I'm worried that my mistake has caused me the person I value most. Please, can we just sit down and talk about this reasonably? I miss you. Haley

I do _not_ own this song. It's called _Fallen_ by the talented Sarah McLachlan and was played on the last episode of OTH, and I just thought that it fit in.


	15. Chapter 15

It took Lucas all of three seconds to make a decision: he had to find Haley because this talk was long overdue. The note was carefully folded and placed in his folder, something he wouldn't throw away for a long time to come. She had taken the first step, reached out her hand. Now it was time for him to do the same in return.

It was lunch, and normally Haley would have been at their table, waiting for him. Lucas was sure without a doubt that she wouldn't be there; she would wait to see his reaction to her note before initiating contact with him.

It didn't take him long to find her. "You're avoiding me, aren't you?"

Haley looked up at him, feeling a huge weight being lifted from her shoulders. If he was looking for her, that meant that he'd found her letter and he was willing to try to work things out. "What, are you implying that I don't generally hang out in the library? I do read." She grabbed a book from the nearest shelf and opened it, lowering embarrassed eyes to the pages. Why had she been hiding, anyway, besides nervousness?

"First of all, the book is upside-down," Lucas noted, taking a seat next to her at the table. "Secondly, it's a physics book. You hate science, and you're taking biology."

She couldn't help but smile bashfully, still a little timid around him. It would have been a good idea to at least look at her surroundings. "Busted."

"Yeah, you are. If I'd found you reading some cheesy romance novel, I would have known you'd been for real."

Her eyes widened in offended shock. "Shut up."

"It's your guilty pleasure."

"You lie."

He smiled at her, relieved that they could still talk like they used to. A part of him had feared that he wouldn't be comfortable around her ever again, but he'd obviously been mistaken. Now that he was calmer, he could speak to her just fine. "You know it's true."

"And you wonder why I was hiding from you?" She cringed, realizing that she'd let her mouth get away from her again. _Great way to ruin things, Haley…_

"No. I know. We need to talk, Hales."

She nodded her head, fidgeting nervously with her fingers. "Right. I'm sorry, Luke. You know I never meant to hurt you. I was only trying to help when I agreed to the arrangement, I swear. And at first I couldn't figure out why you got so angry with me for what I did but then I talked to Peyton and I realized… I'm your best friend and I should have considered how you would feel. I should have _known. _I was so ready to step in and help out that I wasn't thinking clearly."

Lucas frowned. "What do you mean by 'arrangement'?" he asked curiously. "How did you even get involved with him?"

"He asked me one day to help him in English with _Crime and Punishment_," she explained. "I told him to go to hell and that I wouldn't do it because of you but then you missed our movie night and I found out what the guys had done to you so I thought that maybe if I agreed to tutor him, he'd agree to leave you alone. And it worked—for a while things were better."

He didn't know how to respond to that. He didn't like not knowing what was going on, but it was a selfless act that he couldn't help but appreciate. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"What was I supposed to say?" she asked helplessly. "'Hey, Luke, I'm spending time with your half-brother and mortal enemy every morning but it's okay because I'm doing it for you'? You would have had an aneurysm. I knew you wouldn't want me to do it, and I won't pretend that I didn't. But I did it anyway because I wanted you to be happy."

She did want him to be happy. She always had, just like he wanted the same for her. Now Lucas saw that he'd been stupid to react so badly to the situation before. She was his best friend and no matter what he thought about her actions, he knew he should support her in them. "Thank you. For looking out for me like you always have."

She smiled tentatively. "I'm just sorry I did it in a way that hurt you."

"I may have overreacted a little."

"No," she replied earnestly, "you didn't. Now I understand why you were so angry with me. You deserved to be. I know that Nathan is a really… touchy subject for you."

He couldn't help but ask his next question. "Are you still tutoring him?"

She shook her head, trying her hardest to show no emotion whatsoever. The last thing she needed was Lucas seeing how much pain she was in because of that simple fact. "Not anymore."

"Because of me?"

"Because of… lots of things," she answered vaguely.

Yes, because of him. He knew as well as she did that her avoidance was an answer to his inquiry. It didn't hurt or bother him that he'd been the cause of her parting ways with Nathan, but apparently something was still bothering her. Lucas mentally brushed it aside, sure that once things were back to normal everything would be okay. "I was worried he would hurt you," he told her quietly.

Of course he was. No one seemed to believe that she could take care of herself. Haley was the girl that needed protecting—everyone thought so—and it hurt that this time they'd been right. She had been hurt, but she was moving on. "I just... I really hope this didn't screw up our friendship because you're too important to me for that."

The school bell rang loudly and outside, in the hallway, students began to trudge to their classes in the classic Monday afternoon haze.

"I have to get to practice. You're working tonight, right?" At her nod, he got up. "Then I'll see you there." He had taken a few steps from the table when he turned around. "And Hales?"

"Yeah?"

He smiled at her reassuringly, his blue eyes twinkling. "It didn't."

She grinned in relief and watched as he walked out of the library. They were going to be okay. She still had her best friend, and hopefully all the drama and turmoil in her life was going to disappear without a trace and she would just be Haley James, average girl, again.

But with the drama and turmoil, would Nathan vanish as well?

Normal. She had wanted normal so badly and now that she'd gotten her wish, she was beginning to wonder what was so special about it. She loved that she had Lucas back but something was gnawing on her mind. Her days seemed to be on repeat with the same schedule: school, work, homework, sleep, repeat.

At one point in Haley's life, she'd been fine with that. In fact, it had kept her quite content with her life. But now she wanted more.

The night before, she'd had a dream that her definition of normal had changed—that it had widened to include both Nathan and Lucas. That the boys had decided to screw Dan and push aside their differences and attempt a friendship. That the three of them had been able to coexist happily.

That Nathan had been her first boyfriend, someone who wasn't with her for any reason except that they made each other happy.

Haley had never been the kind of girl to sit around daydreaming about the way she wanted her life to be. What was, was. What wasn't would either come with time or never happen, so it wasn't worth wasting time on. Even when she was little, she didn't fantasize about her ideal life. There was no fantastic wedding, no house with a little white picket fence, no perfect man, no two and a half kids, no fuzzy little dog named Spot.

Yet suddenly, she found herself unable to ignore this dream. She could remember it so well that she was tempted to believe that it had actually happened. Everything had seemed so vivid—the laughter as the brothers played basketball together at the park with nothing between them but a friendly competition, Nathan's hands as he pulled her close, his lips as they gently, almost playfully, nipped at hers.

Sometimes when she thought about him, she could still feel their kiss outside the cafe lingering on her lips…

"Hales?"

Haley glanced up from the book she was supposed to be studying, blinking to regain her senses. Lucas was sitting on the floor in his room, looking up at her questioningly. "What?" she asked apologetically.

Lucas tried not to frown with worry, but the truth was that he was concerned about Haley. She'd been different since they put the whole ordeal with Nathan behind them. It wasn't that she was angry at him, that he knew, but there was still something there that he couldn't get at. He had a sick feeling that maybe that something was Nathan.

Was she still thinking about him? Lucas couldn't seem to get a straight answer from her about exactly what had happened between she and Nathan, but she seemed almost morose without him.

That thought bothered Lucas more than he liked. "Can I ask you something?"

"If I said no, would it stop you?"

"No, probably not."

"Then go for it."

"Are you busy Saturday night?"

Had he been talking to her about this all along when she'd been daydreaming? She thought that they were supposed to be working on statistics homework... "Besides sitting on my butt in front of the television, I doubt it. Why do you ask?"

"How would you feel about being my very best friend ever and going to hell with me?"

"I'm already your very best friend." There was a pause. "Wait, you're going to Dan's party?" she exclaimed in disbelief. "Lucas, I thought you decided you weren't going. Remember the speech you gave me? How it's not worth it, you were only asking for trouble if you went… What changed your mind?"

Every year, Dan Scott held an annual basketball team benefit in honor of everyone who contributed to the team during the season at his house. Players and their parents were invited to come and mingle with representatives of the businesses who had invested something in the team. This was the first year that Lucas had been on the team—and the first year he would even _think _about going. For him, stepping into Dan and Nathan's house was like asking to be flayed with a spiked whip

For Haley, it was asking for emotional hell.

"I changed my mind," he replied simply. "Some of the guys on the team talked me into it."

"I really don't think I'd be welcome there," Haley replied. That much was true—she was not rich, a cheerleader, or in any way associated with Dan Scott besides her relationship with his sons, which meant nothing to Dan.

More to the point, she didn't want to spend the evening with a bunch of snotty bastards while wearing a fluffy dress and worrying over whether or not she had broccoli stuck in her teeth, all the while watching the boy she liked ignore her while fawning over some stupid blonde.

She'd much rather sit on the couch in her pajamas while eating ice cream and watching old episodes of Friends on DVD.

"You think I'll be welcome there?" he asked, looking at her skeptically. "Dan's probably going to eat us alive. My mom's taking Keith with her, so you know that'll be interesting."

"Give him my condolences. Sorry, I think I'm gonna sit this one out. It's just not my crowd."

Lucas shrugged. "Just think about it. I know you've got a dress hidden in that closet of yours."

"What, behind my combat boots and the cap for my third eye?"

"I knew something was off about you."

"Hey, if I can forgive your tail and warts, you can ignore the eye."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "You know, you're weird but I still want you to come with me."

"Luke, why would I go? I don't want to kiss Dan's butt and I really don't feel like being the tagalong friend in the bunch of jocks and their girlfriends."

"Tagalong friend?" he repeated. "It wouldn't be like that. You'd be my date."

She eyed him skeptically. Clearly he'd been frying his brain over math too long. "Date?"

Lucas shrugged, catching her eye and holding it with his gaze. "Have you ever wondered why we never tried it?" he inquired.

"Tried… dating? As in you and me?" When he nodded, Haley mentally took a step back to look at the situation. Somewhere along the road, a wrong turn had been taken. "No, I can't say I spend a lot of time questioning it."

"Well… why don't we?"

Her tired brain grasped wildly at the torn strings of his words. They just weren't making sense to her. "Lucas, are you asking me out?"

He didn't answer for a second, then nodded. "Yes."

She stared at him, wondering why he was doing this. He was a good-looking guy; she'd always known that. But there had never been a real attraction between them and it still wasn't there. "Okay," she finally replied. "Let's do it."

Lucas looked surprised. "Really?"

She nodded. "Yeah. But I have one condition… that you look me in the eye right now and tell me that you'd rather be dating me than Peyton."

Lucas looked like a deer caught in headlights. His mouth opened once and closed before he turned away, unable to look her in the face.

"That's what I thought. _This_ is why we never tried it, Luke. Friendship's all there is for us. Anything else would be forced and a lie."

"Haley—"

"I know what you're doing," she cut in, "and it's not necessary. Furthermore, I'm tired of your pissing contest with Nathan. 'I don't really want you, but I don't want him to have you so I'll put you in a fancy dress and show you off to make him jealous.' What is that? Some kind of stupid Neanderthal mentality? Because it's really getting on my nerves. And if this is supposed to be some test—like who I'm loyal to or something—it's pointless, because judgment day has come and gone and I'm sitting here right now with you."

They both fell silent, Haley waiting for Luke to respond and Lucas ashamed that she had realized his motive. Finally, Lucas broke the silence. "I don't want to lose you to him."

"You didn't." She closed her book with a sigh, raising herself from his desk. "I'm going home. I'll talk to you later."

And as he watched his best friend leave his room with that melancholy look in her eyes, he couldn't help but wonder if he was keeping her from something that was meant to be.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: I just want to say thank you guys so much for your encouragement. I really appreciate your kind feedback and I hope you continue to enjoy the story… I actually wrote this a while back but have been editing a few things, so if things seem a bit outdated, that's why. =)

"Wow. You look nice."

Haley frowned at the compliment and glanced down at herself. "Damn. I knew I should have worn a trash bag."

Lucas laughed at the sarcasm in her voice. If anything was going to keep him sane at Dan's benefit, it would be her wry humor. "I'm serious."

"Who said I'm not? I didn't come to show everyone how nicely I clean up," Haley commented with a chuckle as she reached out to fix Lucas's crooked tie. "You know, you never could dress yourself."

"You're making fun of me again."

"Me? I wouldn't dare." She grinned and took a seat on Luke's porch swing, looking over her friend. She had to admit that his suit fit him well. "Actually, you look pretty good. I think Peyton will approve."

"I didn't dress for Peyton. I don't even know if she'll be there."

Right, just like she hadn't dressed for Nathan. She wasn't trying to start anything with him—she knew she couldn't—but it didn't hurt to look nice anyway. "The denial thing really doesn't work for you, Luke," she announced simply. "And Peyton's going to be there, I just hung up with her."

They talked to each other on the phone? Lucas knew that they were becoming friends, something he was grateful for, but he didn't realize how close they were. "You two have become pretty good friends now, haven't you?"

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. I think a lot of people are fooled by the moody front she puts up, but she's a really great person. Remember that." She glanced towards the front door, where she could hear the sounds of Karen and Keith walking around and closing up the house. "So, are you ready for this?"

"I think so. My mom and Deb have been talking, so at least she might have someone else on her side." He needed to tell her about his change of heart regarding her situation with Nathan soon or he may never be able to force the words from his mouth. "Listen, Haley, about this thing with—"

"Haley, you're here," Karen said in surprise as she and Keith came from the house. "Well, you look nice."

The younger woman made a face. "So they tell me. It's a bit disconcerting." She grinned at the picture the two of them made. "But you two look great."

Keith offered her a smile. "Well, we're all here. I guess we better get going."

"Yeah, if we're late they might greet us at the door with a shotgun," Lucas joked.

Haley managed to look offended, "A shotgun? Come on, Luke, this is a fancy party. They'd at least bring out the swords and elaborate torture equipment."

He laughed as they followed Karen and Keith to the car. "Of course. How silly of me."

"Well, you're a silly guy."

"Right. Have you been drinking?"

"If you're implying that the strange amber liquid I ingested this morning had any effect on my behavior, you're crazy."

Lucas laughed as he got into the back of the car and she got in on the other side. "If I didn't know you so well, you would really worry me sometimes."

"It's a gift." She grinned cheekily at him. "Were you going to tell me something back there?"

Glancing to the front seat at the two adults who were undoubtedly listening to everything that was being said, Lucas shook his head. "I'll tell you later."

"Okay…"

By the time they arrived at the Scott household, Haley was doubting her decision to go. It had obviously not been the decision of a sound mind. After all, everything was turned around. Things were Lucas were only borderline normal. Peyton, of all people, was quickly becoming her closest confidante. Nathan, 'the enemy,' seemed to be invading her mind during sleep and consciousness.

Keith parked the car and they all got out, their eyes drawn to the house that could very well be their own personal hell for the next couple of hours. Lucas looked at Haley and smiled reassuringly at her, but she was looking at the house with dread in her eyes.

The only other time she'd been in that house, she had learned that Nathan was using her.

Why had she come?

Noting the trepidation on his friend's face, Lucas felt the need to point out that they could leave when they chose. "You know, maybe we should have a signal, for in case one of us wants to leave."

"A signal?" Karen repeated.

"Yeah, something we can say so we'll all know that it's time to go."

"How about 'let's get the hell out of here'?" Haley suggested dryly.

"Very funny," Lucas replied. "How about 'caw'?"

Haley's eyebrows furrowed as she looked closely at him. "And they say I'm the weird one… are you channeling your inner bird?"

He shot her an unamused look. "'Caw' like a raven."

"Caw!" Karen laughed. "All right, that works."

Haley took a deep breath and shook her head as they approached the doorway. "See, Luke, you do it and it's somehow not completely wrong. There's no way I could pull off 'caw'ing without being sent to the insane asylum. Looks like you're stuck with me, Big Bird."

Keith chuckled and reached out to ring the doorbell as Lucas once more jokingly glared at Haley.

No one, however, was laughing when the door opened to reveal none other than Dan Scott himself. The dark suit and smug smirk he wore made him look almost as evil as he truly was. "Come on in."

And welcome to hell.


	17. Chapter 17

Dan was in his glory. All eyes were on him—well, most of them, anyway—as he gave the appropriate speech on the greatness of the basketball team and said the necessary thanks to everyone who contributed and gave them a chance to be as wonderful as they were.

Basically, he spewed bullshit through his teeth while putting on a charming act.

It was beginning to make Haley sick to her stomach. It hurt to look at the man who had deserted Lucas, the man who had hurt Karen, the man who drove Nathan to be so desperate for prominence in basketball that it made him sink to amazing lows to get it.

Any moment, she expected that she would lose her control and start throwing the crab puff appetizers at the bastard's inflated head.

To keep herself from doing something she would regret, she decided to ignore Dan and find something else to absorb her attention. Her eyes wandered around the veranda, moving over the well-dressed parents and bored students with disinterest.

And then she saw Nathan, and her search came to an end. Consciously she knew that she had been looking for him, but on some level she still tried to convince herself otherwise. However, the moment she saw him talking to Tim and looking wonderful as ever, she knew she wouldn't find anything more interesting.

She missed him. It was stupid because half the time they were around each other, they bickered like little kids, but she still missed it. She missed his smile when he got problems right. She missed him teasing her, and her getting to tease him back. She missed the cocky grin he always wore when he reminded her of the time she'd slipped and commented on his pretty face.

It was the kind of banter she couldn't get with someone else. It had taken time to reach that point in their relationship and she wished that it hadn't been taken away from her so quickly. She wondered if he even felt a fraction of the same way.

As if he felt her gaze on him, Nathan turned in her direction and immediately their eyes met. Haley wasn't sure what she should do. Smile? Wave? Just sit there and stare like an idiot?

Yeah, the last one sounded like a plan.

Nathan looked at her hard for a minute, examining her and taking in the fact that she was there—with Lucas—before smiling at her ever so slightly and mouthing something to her. She shook her head to indicate that she wasn't sure what he'd said and he repeated the motion slower. "I like your hair up."

Haley returned the smile brightly, feeling her stomach tighten. He'd noticed. When she'd been doing her hair, she had wondered briefly if he would even make the connection to their conversation about her ponytails.

It touched her that he had, and it hurt even more that she had no right to care.

Soon the speech was over, and Haley turned her attention to Lucas. Praying that he hadn't seen her staring at his brother, she chose a safe topic of conversation. "You hate me, don't you? That's why you brought me here. I wanted to ask you to 'caw' about ten times."

"Only ten?" Lucas laughed dryly. "Yeah, that was fun, wasn't it?"

"I no longer have any fondness for you," she informed him flatly. "I think my brain is about to dribble out of my head."

"Don't start leaking just yet. I need to talk to you," he told her, pulling her into the house and away from the milling adults. There were a few people wandering around inside, but most of them were still out on the patio so it was easier to find a private place to talk. When he'd found a room that was empty, he turned to her and said openly, "It's about you and Nathan."

Haley groaned. He had caught her. But really, what could he possibly have to say about that? She'd given up—he'd gotten his way. She couldn't even look at Nathan anymore? Was there no appeasing him? "What now? Luke, I—"

"I want you to go talk to him."

She froze, knowing that she couldn't have just heard him correctly. "What?"

At that moment he knew he was doing the right thing, because even in her disbelieving eyes there was a new glimmer of hope. "This is hard for me to say, so please don't make me repeat it. You're my best friend, and I want you to be happy and if you think that somehow you would be happy with Nathan then… go for it. I may not understand it and I may not like it but I won't stop you and I won't hold it against you. It's your choice, Haley, not mine. And whatever happens between you two, I'll be here for you."

"I cannot believe you just said that."

Lucas smiled weakly. "Neither can I."

"But you mean it?"

"Yeah, I mean it. Even if I hadn't said this, I think you would have gone to him eventually anyway so I might as well give you the go ahead and let you do things your way."

Haley smiled and reached out to hug him, pulling him tight against her. "Thank you, Luke," she whispered in his ear.

He returned the hug. It was surprising, but he didn't feel the dread in his gut that he expected to. In fact, he felt kind of light, like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He had been trying to protect Haley from harm since they'd known each other and it was time he stopped and let her be her own person. It was her life.

He released her and took a step back and smiled at her. "So go find him."

Haley nodded but didn't move.

"Hales?"

"What if it's a mistake?" she asked quietly. Now that she had nothing stopping her from going to find Nathan and telling him how she felt, she was more scared than ever. "My life since I met him has been a constant fight, Luke. I fought with Nathan, we both fought to keep it a secret, I fought with you, I fought with Nathan again… what if we just keep fighting? What if everything happens and it turns out it wasn't worth it?"

Lucas gave her an incredulous look. "Now I really can't believe I'm going to say this, but Haley, I think you've lost your mind. The fact that you've fought this much for it means that it is worth it. You want it, Hales, I can see that in your eyes, and that's enough to make you try."

She took a deep breath and nodded her head. He was right. She was being foolish. Haley James spent too much time being cautious and sheltered; now it was time to go out on a limb and take a risk. "You're right," she finally admitted. "I'm going to go find Nathan." She walked to the door and opened it, turning around as she passed through to give him a look. "You coming?"

The mere thought of following her to see what happened made his face scrunch up in distaste. "To watch the show? I think I'll sit this one out."

Haley rolled her eyes. "I wasn't offering, but if my memory serves me correctly, you have a certain blonde cheerleader to find." A sweet smile touched her lips. "You did me a favor, now I'm sending it right back. Go talk to Peyton."

"Yes, ma'am. Good luck."

"You too." Haley chuckled softly and left the room, her eyes searching the hallway for any sign of Nathan. How was she supposed to find him in this mess? It took her a while to search inside the house before she sighed and headed outside for a little air. The distinct sound of fake laughter was beginning to grate on her nerves.

And standing there on the patio, illuminated by the moonlight, was a single solitary figure that she had come to know well.

"Nathan?" His name slipped from her lips before she could silence herself.

He turned around to face her, his expression hidden. "Haley. What are you doing out here?"

"Escaping everything that's in that house," she answered honestly. "You?"

One corner of his mouth turned up in a half smile. "Same."

"How are you?" Haley asked awkwardly, her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn't sure how to act—how did one approach something like this? She'd never had to do this before.

"Shouldn't you be asking your chaperone Lucas? He's the only one that matters."

Haley didn't flinch. The old Nathan appeared to be back, but it was just a façade and she knew it. She'd become skilled in seeing through his masks. "No. You matter, too."

"Right," Nathan sighed doubtfully.

She was at a loss of what to say, so she just said the first thing that came to mind. "What happened on your English test?"

He glanced back at her in confusion. "What?"

"The test we took in Turner's class yesterday. I corrected yours; you got a D," she elaborated. "What happened? "

He sent her a wry, bitter smile. "I lost my tutor to this jerk."

Ignoring the insult to Lucas, Haley pressed on, "But you understand enough to pass on your own when you read. I know you do, Nathan, and—"

"Just drop it, Haley. It doesn't matter."

"The hell it doesn't matter. It's only your future we're talking about."

He shrugged, turning to fully face her. "I'll get into some school because of basketball, so what's the point? As long as I graduate, I'm set."

"And that's enough for you?"

"For a few weeks, it wasn't. Now, yeah, pretty much."

Haley sighed. There was so much hurt and anger in him, and she had caused them both. How was she supposed to fix that? For the first time she was seeing clearly that it was very possible he wouldn't even want her anymore. "I'm sorry," she started out softly. "I'm sorry if I ever made you feel like you were less than you are. Everything is so confusing right now. I… when we were fighting in front of the café you told me that being around me made you want to be a better person, so that you would deserve me. Do you remember that?"

He nodded almost imperceptibly, wondering where she could possibly be going with this conversation.

"That's how I feel right now with you," she went on, trying her hardest not to fidget nervously. "I made a lot of stupid decisions about us, Nathan. I was thinking more about Lucas and everyone else than you and me and now I see how wrong that was because none of that should matter. Not more than what you want or what I want."

"Haley, what are you trying to say?"

"That I made a mistake," she answered succinctly. "Figuring out things between us was hard because I made it so hard, but the bottom line is… you got to me. In a way no one ever has before… and it was nice to have that. And I miss it. And I'm sorry that I ruined it."

Was he really hearing her say these things? Nothing in his life ever seemed to work out the way he wanted it to, and yet this seemed to be a scene from one of his listless daydreams. "So you're saying…"

She could see the wicked glint in his eyes, see the smile he was trying to repress, and it gave her courage. "You're going to make me say it, aren't you?"

He nodded.

She sighed, taking a step closer to him. "I'm saying that Lucas is going to deal with anything that happens. I'm saying that if it had been possible, I would have chosen you both and never made you feel like you weren't important to me because you are. I'm saying that… I want you, Nathan, if you still want me."

"I think I can handle that." His hand reached up to gently touch her cheek, and the smile that lit her face made his heart race. "You look like you're expecting something, James."

"Maybe a little something, yeah…"

"Guess I shouldn't disappoint." Grinning, he lowered his head to hers and met her waiting lips. His arms wound around her waist, pulling her closer, as her hands went to cup his face in her soft palms, and in the quiet of the still night they forgot about everything going on inside the house.


	18. Chapter 18

A/N: Here's the last chapter, guys! I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for the reviews!

"I know you were against it and all, but I have to admit that I'm happy for them," Peyton admitted as she glanced outside and saw Nathan and Haley sitting close together on the patio, talking in lowered voices. She and Lucas had gotten curious when they hadn't heard from or seen Haley and Nathan for over an hour, so they'd gone out in search of them.

It wasn't like they had anything better to do. Tim and the guys on the team were getting drunk with a few of the cheerleaders in the back of the house. Tim's mother, Shari, was blabbing on about a couple's cruise in the living room. The mission was a welcomed escape, and the sight before them was a pleasant one. At least things were going right for _somebody_.

"It doesn't feel weird for you?" Lucas wondered.

Peyton shrugged, unsure of what he meant. "I guess I'm feeling a little voyeuristic…"

Lucas laughed and shook his head. "That wasn't exactly what I meant."

"But I have a point, don't I?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at him saucily.

He frowned, realizing that they were being more than a little intrusive. "I guess you do."

She grabbed his hand, smiling to herself, and dragged him away from the window they were watching the happy couple through. "So what did you mean by that question?" she asked, maneuvering through Nathan's house with ease; she had spent enough time their during their time together that it had become well-known territory.

"Just… seeing Hales with Nathan. I mean, you guys used to go out…"

"And Haley was your first kiss. So?" Peyton glanced over her shoulder and noted the shocked look on his face with satisfaction. "It's in the past."

"Haley told you about that?"

Peyton laughed as she found what she was looking for: the exit that lead to the back of the house and the tree swing, her favorite spot on the property. She stepped out, letting Lucas follow her, before scrunching down and slowly making her way behind a low line of bushes. "Your teammates are congregated over here getting drunk. Keep your head down unless you want to get dragged out with them."

"Not in the mood to party?" he asked sarcastically.

"I'm about all partied out." She walked carefully along, her heels making quiet sounds against the concrete stones.

Lucas had to stop himself from laughing when he heard Brooke Davis, one of Peyton's friends, telling Tim in no uncertain terms to go throw himself in front of a bus. Apparently the princess wasn't pleased with something he had done in his intoxicated state.

Peyton merely rolled her eyes, used to the back and forth between Brooke and Tim.

When they had made it around the corner successfully, Peyton walked directly to the tree swing in sight.

"You didn't answer my question," Lucas pointed out.

"Which was…?"

"Haley told you about our kiss?"

She smiled gently at him. "No. You just did."

"Clever."

She shrugged her shoulders as she leaned against the seat of the swing. "You guys have that look about you," she told him simply. "You're close. You've been friends for years. I just thought it made sense."

"I guess. Young experimentation… at the time we both thought it was disgusting, but we had to see what the big deal about it was."

"And now?"

Catching the hesitant but lively spark in her eyes, Lucas smiled at her reassuringly. "You'll just have to wait and see."

"Please tell me you're not studying on a Saturday afternoon."

Haley grinned at the mere sound of his voice, glancing over her shoulder from her seat at her desk and laughing when she saw Nathan watching her from her doorway with a pleading expression on his face. Sometimes it was hard for her to believe that he was so attractive… and hers. "Okay, I'm not studying."

His eyes narrowed playfully as he quickly crossed the room and looked down at the notes on her desk. "Liar."

"You asked for it," she said sweetly, smiling as he leaned over to place a kiss on her lips. When she pulled back a moment later, a content grin was on her lips. "Not that I mind, but what are you doing here? I thought we were going out tonight."

"Right, but you also owe me a reward."

Haley raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously.

"You said that if I got an A on the final test on _Crime and Punishment_, I'd get a reward. Well, I'm here to claim it," he announced with a pleased smile on his face.

Watching the way he sat down on her bed like he owned the room made her feel oddly settled and disturbed at the same time. The confident smile on his face was charming and yet sometimes she felt like playfully knocking it down an inch. "You're entirely too used to getting what you want, you know that?"

"I'm pretty sure you've told me," he chuckled, reaching out an arm to pull her up from her chair to stand between his legs. "Come on, no more studying today. It's time to go or we'll be late."

Haley glanced at him suspiciously as he pushed back a free strand of hair from her face. "Late for what?"

"You have to wait and see." He got to his feet and started pulling her toward the door, that cute smile secure on his lips. He was excited, there was no way to hide it. He knew that he was about to do the right thing—something they both needed.

"Should I be scared?" Haley asked teasingly as she grabbed her bag in a hurry as he pulled her out her door.

"What, you don't trust me?"

"Do you really want me to answer that?" she shot back, laughing when he turned around to shoot her a mock glare.

"Probably not." They left the house and got into his truck. Nathan pulled away and started driving to their destination, one hand entwined with Haley's on the seat between them.

"I'm going to kick your butt if this turns out to be torturous, Scott."

"Ouch. Where did all this violence come from, anyway?"

"Youngest of six children," she reminded him. "It wasn't violence; it was self defense."

Nathan laughed. "And now?"

She frowned and then shrugged off the question. "Old habits die hard."

It was three weeks after Dan's benefit and things had been interesting since then. Nothing worth the effort came easily, and their relationship was no different. It had taken both of them a little time to settle into a comfortable zone, and the tension between Lucas and Nathan sometimes still bothered Haley.

But things were improving and she was grateful to both her boyfriend and her best friend for trying—and she knew they were trying. She saw them struggle to put their differences behind them every day.

Peyton's presence made things a lot easier. She and Lucas, to Haley's enjoyment, had finally come clean with their feelings and decided to try a relationship. From the very beginning the girls had decided something: they wouldn't tolerate the guys beating up on each other. When things got particularly heated between them, the girls intervened and helped them cool off.

As she watched the road in front of them, Haley began to get confused. She knew where they were going, but she had no idea why they would be going there.

"Nathan? What's going on?" she asked curiously as he pulled up to the park that Lucas and his friends often played basketball in. Her confusion only doubled when she spotted Lucas and Peyton sitting on the hood of Peyton's car, a basketball at their feet.

He grinned at her as he parked the truck beside their friends and shut off the engine, squeezing her hand in his. "You're going to cheer me on while I beat Luke."

His words lacked animosity and venom, and Haley couldn't help but smile as they got out of the truck. "Am I the only one who didn't know about this?" Haley wondered, looking from Peyton to Lucas questioningly.

"No," Peyton answered, a little worried about what may happen in the near future. "It looks like today's the day of surprises."

Lucas and Nathan looked at each other almost apathetically, knowing that it was time to try to start over with each other. They were going to have to spend time together; doing it while hating each other would make everyone miserable and it seemed pointless. There were other things to put their energy toward and that was something they could both agree on.

So as they started to play on the court with Peyton and Haley watching from the sidelines, there was no ill will lingering in the air. Haley watched the scene with a calm sense of pride in both of them for being able to do it. There had been battles in the past and there would no doubt be more waiting for them all in the future, but there was no doubt in her mind that it was worth it.

She had never been one to hold on to dreams. It was a good thing that, just this once, she had.


End file.
